Attractor Explosions and Catalyzed Vacuum Decay

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new mechanism where black holes and other compact objects can catalyze vacuum decay by producing bubbles of a different vacuum, expanding understanding of vacuum stability and decay processes.

Contribution

It combines moduli stabilization with a generalized attractor phenomenon to show how Hawking radiation can trigger vacuum decay in various compact objects.

Findings

Black holes can catalyze vacuum decay via Hawking radiation.

Both charged and uncharged bodies can trigger vacuum bubbles.

Implications for metastable vacuum population and stability.

Abstract

We present a mechanism for catalyzed vacuum bubble production obtained by combining moduli stabilization with a generalized attractor phenomenon in which moduli are sourced by compact objects. This leads straightforwardly to a class of examples in which the Hawking decay process for black holes unveils a bubble of a different vacuum from the ambient one, generalizing the new endpoint for Hawking evaporation discovered recently by Horowitz. Catalyzed vacuum bubble production can occur for both charged and uncharged bodies, including Schwarzschild black holes for which massive particles produced in the Hawking process can trigger vacuum decay. We briefly discuss applications of this process to the population and stability of metastable vacua.