False vacuum decay: an introductory review

TL;DR

This paper provides an introductory review of false vacuum decay, covering semi-classical tunnelling calculations in quantum mechanics and field theory, with applications to the Standard Model and gravitational effects.

Contribution

It offers a detailed overview of tunnelling phenomena, including quantum corrections and the influence of gravity, in the context of metastable states in quantum field theory.

Findings

Decay probability calculations for metastable states

Application to Standard Model electroweak vacuum

Impact of gravity on tunnelling rates

Abstract

We review the description of tunnelling phenomena in the semi-classical approximation in ordinary quantum mechanics and in quantum field theory. In particular, we describe in detail the calculation, up to the first quantum corrections, of the decay probability per unit time of a metastable ground state. We apply the relevant formalism to the case of the standard model of electroweak interactions, whose ground state is metastable for sufficiently large values of the top quark mass. Finally, we discuss the impact of gravitational interactions on the calculation of the tunnelling rate.