Particle production induced by vacuum decay in real time dynamics

TL;DR

This paper explores particle production during vacuum decay in real time, using the Stokes phenomenon to accurately track mode evolution in Minkowski and de Sitter spacetimes, offering new insights into the process.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of the Stokes phenomenon to real time vacuum decay analysis, providing a more precise method for calculating particle production.

Findings

Effective tracking of mode functions during vacuum decay

Application of real time formalism to Minkowski and de Sitter spacetimes

New perspective on particle production caused by external fields

Abstract

We discuss particle production associated with vacuum decay, which changes the mass of a scalar field coupled to a background field which induces the decay. By utilizing the Stokes phenomenon, we can optimally track the time-evolution of mode function and hence calculate particle production properly. In particular, we use real time formalisms for vacuum decay in Minkowski and de Sitter spacetime together with the Stokes phenomenon method. For each case, we consider the flyover vacuum decay model and stochastic inflation, respectively. Within the real time formalism, the particle production can be viewed as that caused by nontrivial external fields. This gives us a novel perspective of the real time formalism of vacuum decay.