Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 28, 2026
10:00
Gradient Echo Quantum Memory in Warm Atomic Vapor
Published on: November 11, 2013
Dissipation, noise, and vacuum decay in quantum field theory
Esteban Calzetta1, Albert Roura, Enric Verdaguer
1Departamento de Física, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, 1428 Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Physical Review Letters
|January 22, 2002
Summary
Quantum field theory vacuum decay is influenced by mode interactions, leading to a finite decay rate even at zero temperature due to stochastic effects. This phenomenon significantly impacts the overall vacuum decay rate.
Area of Science:
- Quantum Field Theory
- Cosmology
- Statistical Mechanics
Background:
- Vacuum decay is a theoretical process where a quantum field transitions from a metastable vacuum state to a lower energy state.
- Understanding vacuum decay is crucial for cosmology and particle physics, impacting theories of the early universe and fundamental forces.
- The stochastic nature of field interactions, particularly between different wavelength modes, is often simplified in theoretical models.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of stochastic interactions between long- and short-wavelength modes in quantum field theory vacuum decay.
- To analyze the impact of these interactions on the dynamics of the reduced Wigner function for long-wavelength modes.
- To determine if these stochastic effects contribute a finite activation rate to vacuum decay, even at absolute zero temperature.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing quantum field theory formalism to model vacuum decay.
- Focusing on the statistical (stochastic) aspects of mode coupling.
- Analyzing the evolution of the reduced Wigner function to capture the behavior of long-wavelength modes.
Main Results:
- The interaction between long- and short-wavelength modes induces a diffusive behavior in the reduced Wigner function.
- This diffusive behavior leads to a non-zero, finite activation rate for vacuum decay, even at zero temperature.
- The contribution of this stochastic effect to the total vacuum decay rate can be substantial.
Conclusions:
- Stochastic interactions between different wavelength modes are a critical factor in vacuum decay dynamics.
- The derived finite activation rate at zero temperature provides a new mechanism for vacuum instability.
- This research offers a more comprehensive understanding of vacuum decay processes in quantum field theory and cosmology.
Related Concept Videos
02:39Emission Spectra
When solids, liquids, or condensed gases are heated sufficiently, they radiate some of the excess energy as light. Photons produced in this manner have a range of energies, and thereby produce a continuous spectrum in which an unbroken series of wavelengths is present.
02:32The de Broglie Wavelength
In the macroscopic world, objects that are large enough to be seen by the naked eye follow the rules of classical physics. A billiard ball moving on a table will behave like a particle; it will continue traveling in a straight line unless it collides with another ball, or it is acted on by some other force, such as friction. The ball has a well-defined position and velocity or well-defined momentum, p = mv, which is defined by mass m and velocity v at any given moment. This is the typical...
02:39Entropy
Salt particles that have dissolved in water never spontaneously come back together in solution to reform solid particles. Moreover, a gas that has expanded in a vacuum remains dispersed and never spontaneously reassembles. The unidirectional nature of these phenomena is the result of a thermodynamic state function called entropy (S). Entropy is the measure of the extent to which the energy is dispersed throughout a system, or in other words, it is proportional to the degree of disorder of a...
01:07Damped Oscillations
In the real world, oscillations seldom follow true simple harmonic motion. A system that continues its motion indefinitely without losing its amplitude is termed undamped. However, friction of some sort usually dampens the motion, so it fades away or needs more force to continue. For example, a guitar string stops oscillating a few seconds after being plucked. Similarly, one must continually push a swing to keep a child swinging on a playground.
Although friction and other non-conservative...
Although friction and other non-conservative...
01:28Standing Waves in a Cavity
A household microwave and lasers are examples of standing electromagnetic waves in a cavity. When two conducting metal plates are placed parallel at the nodal planes, it creates a cavity where standing waves are formed. The cavity between the two planes is analogous to a stretched string held at the points x = 0 and x = L. Here, the distance 'L' between the two planes must be an integer multiple of half of the wavelength. The wavelengths that satisfy this condition are given by:
01:28Atomic Nuclei: Types of Nuclear Relaxation
Nuclear relaxation restores the equilibrium population imbalance and can occur via spin–lattice or spin–spin mechanisms, which are first-order exponential decay processes.
In spin–lattice or longitudinal relaxation, the excited spins exchange energy with the surrounding lattice as they return to the lower energy level. Among several mechanisms that contribute to spin–lattice relaxation, magnetic dipolar interactions are significant. Here, the excited nucleus transfers energy to a nearby...
In spin–lattice or longitudinal relaxation, the excited spins exchange energy with the surrounding lattice as they return to the lower energy level. Among several mechanisms that contribute to spin–lattice relaxation, magnetic dipolar interactions are significant. Here, the excited nucleus transfers energy to a nearby...