Files

507976.pdf (1.58 MB)

Document type

Article

Version

Published version

Publication date

1994

All rights reserved

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/12333

Instantons for vacuum decay at finite temperature in the thin wall limit

Journal Title

Authors

Director/Tutor

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Related resource

http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.49.5497

Abstract

In [ital N]+1 dimensions, false vacuum decay at zero temperature is dominated by the O([ital N]+1)-symmetric instanton, a sphere of radius [ital R][sub 0], whereas at temperatures [ital T][much gt][ital R][sub 0][sup [minus]1], the decay is dominated by a cylindrical'' (static) O([ital N])-symmetric instanton. We study the transition between these two regimes in the thin wall approximation. Taking an O([ital N])-symmetric ansatz for the instantons, we show that for [ital N]=2 and [ital N]=3 new periodic solutions exist in a finite temperature range in the neighborhood of [ital T][similar to][ital R][sub 0][sup [minus]1]. However, these solutions have a higher action than the spherical or the cylindrical one. This suggests that there is a sudden change (a first order transition) in the derivative of the nucleation rate at a certain temperature [ital T][sub *], when the static instanton starts dominating. For [ital N]=1, on the other hand, the new solutions are dominant and they smoothly interpolate between the zero temperature instanton and the high temperature one, so the transition is of second order. The determinantal prefactors corresponding to the cylindrical'' instantons are discussed, and it is pointed out that the entropic contributions from massless excitations corresponding to deformations of the domainmore » wall give rise to an exponential enhancement of the nucleation rate for [ital T][much gt][ital R][sub 0][sup [minus]1].« less

Subject

Teoria de camps (Física), Partícules (Física nuclear), Transformacions de fase (Física estadística), Instantons

Subject (English)

Field theory (Physics), Particles (Nuclear physics), Phase transformations (Statistical physics), Instantons

Citation

Collections

Articles publicats en revistes (Física de la Matèria Condensada)

Citation

GARRIGA TORRES, Jaume. Instantons for vacuum decay at finite temperature in the thin wall limit. Physical Review D. 1994. Vol. 49, num. 10, pags. 5497-5506. ISSN 0556-2821. [consulted: 6 of June of 2026]. Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/12333

Export metadata

JSON - METS

Share record