Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: We investigate whether the classical equivalence of general relativity, its teleparallel equivalent, and its symmetric teleparallel equivalent extends to false-vacuum decay at leading semiclassical order. For a real scalar field minimally coupled to gravity, we compare the tunnelling exponent $B=S_{\rm b}-S_{\rm fv}$, which determines the exponential suppression of the decay rate, $Γ\sim e^{-B}$, with the Euclidean bounce, $S_{\rm b}$, and false-vacuum actions, $S_{\rm fv}$. The three formulations admit the same $O(4)$-symmetric Coleman-De Luccia bounce, but the boundary terms relating their actions can contribute to $B$. We explicitly evaluate the torsion and non-metricity boundary contributions at the regular origin, $r=0$, and at the asymptotic endpoint, $r\to\infty$. For regular configurations with consistently matched bounce and false-vacuum boundary data, these contributions vanish in both TEGR and STEGR. We therefore obtain $B_{\rm GR}=B_{\rm TEGR}=B_{\rm STEGR}$, establishing that the three formulations predict the same leading semiclassical suppression of false-vacuum decay within the class of configurations and boundary conditions considered.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7166711589