Quantum decay of scalar and vector boson stars and oscillons into gravitons

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that scalar and vector boson stars and oscillons inevitably decay into gravitons via gravitational interactions, setting upper limits on their lifetimes and predicting the graviton background spectrum.

Contribution

It reveals that gravitational decay occurs even without self-interactions, providing a fundamental limit on soliton stability and calculating the resulting graviton spectrum.

Findings

Decay into gravitons is unavoidable due to gravitational interactions.

Provides upper bounds on the lifetime of boson stars and oscillons.

Calculates the spectrum of the resulting graviton background.

Abstract

We point out that a soliton such as an oscillon or boson star inevitably decays into gravitons through gravitational interactions. These decay processes exist even if there are no apparent self-interactions of the constituent field, scalar or vector, since they are induced by gravitational interactions. Hence, our results provide a strict upper limit on the lifetime of oscillons and boson stars including the dilute axion star. We also calculate the spectrum of the graviton background from decay of solitons.