A New Semiclassical Picture of Vacuum Decay

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel real-time semiclassical approach to vacuum decay using lattice simulations, avoiding tunneling paths and aligning well with traditional decay rate calculations.

Contribution

It introduces a new real-time semiclassical framework for vacuum decay that differs from traditional tunneling-based methods.

Findings

Vacuum decay observed via bubble formation in lattice simulations

Decay rates match existing semiclassical techniques

Potential for studying bubble correlations and non-vacuum decay

Abstract

We introduce a new picture of vacuum decay which, in contrast to existing semiclassical techniques, provides a real-time description and does not rely on classically-forbidden tunneling paths. Using lattice simulations, we observe vacuum decay via bubble formation by generating realizations of vacuum fluctuations and evolving with the classical equations of motion. The decay rate obtained from an ensemble of simulations is in excellent agreement with existing techniques. Future applications include bubble correlation functions, fast decay rates, and decay of non-vacuum states.