Is the vacuum stable?
Year: 1997
Type: article
Abstract: The experimental data, as well as theoretical considerations allow (and, in some cases, require the Universe at present to rest in a false vacuum, whose approximate stability imposes constraints on the model parameters. Under very general and mild conditions, the Universe would have ended up in the standard vacuum even if the potential has deeper minima, provided there was a period in which the temperature was ≳ 1 TeV. In many cases, the zero temperature tunneling rate is much smaller than the inverse age of the Universe. Future experiments may reveal that the physical vacuum is not entirely stable. Implications for the cosmological constant are discussed.
Source: Physics Letters B
Authors: Alexander Kusenko, Paul Langacker
Institution: University of Pennsylvania
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid:
OpenAlex ID: W1981066924