Higgs Field-Induced Triboluminescence in Binary Black Hole Mergers

TL;DR

This paper proposes that binary black hole mergers could trigger Higgs vacuum instability, leading to observable gamma rays and neutrinos due to micro-black hole evaporation, linking gravitational wave events with high-energy astrophysical signals.

Contribution

It introduces a novel mechanism where black hole mergers induce Higgs vacuum decay and micro-black hole formation, suggesting new multi-messenger observational signatures.

Findings

Potential gamma-ray signals from micro-black hole evaporation.

High-energy neutrino emissions correlated with black hole mergers.

A new theoretical link between Higgs physics and astrophysical phenomena.

Abstract

We conjecture that the Higgs potential can be significantly modified when it is in close proximity to the horizon of an astrophysical black hole, leading to the destabilization of the electroweak vacuum. In this situation, the black hole should be encompassed by a shell consisting of a "bowling substance" of the nucleating new phase bubbles. In a binary black hole merger, just before the coalescence, the nucleated bubbles can be prevented from falling under their seeding horizons, as they are simultaneously attracted by the gravitational potential of the companion. For a short time, the unstable vacuum will be "sandwiched" between two horizons of the binary black hole, and therefore the bubbles may collide and form micro-black holes, which will be rapidly evaporated by thermal emission of Hawking radiation of all Standard Model spices. This evaporation, being triggered by a gravitational wave signal from the binary black hole merger, can manifest itself in observations of gamma rays and very high energy neutrinos, which makes it a perfect physics case for multi-messenger astronomical observations.