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Enhanced brane tunneling and instanton wrinkles
Adam R Brown1, Saswat Sarangi, Benjamin Shlaer
1ISCAP, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA.
Physical Review Letters
|November 13, 2007
Summary
String theory effects surprisingly increase decay rates through high potential barriers. This finding significantly alters our understanding of the string theory landscape and vacuum transitions.
Area of Science:
- String theory
- Cosmology
- Quantum field theory
Background:
- Understanding vacuum transitions is crucial in cosmology and string theory.
- The landscape of string theory contains a vast number of possible vacuum states.
- Previous models did not fully account for quantum effects on decay rates.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of stringy effects on vacuum transition rates.
- To determine if quantum effects can enhance decay through high potential barriers.
- To re-evaluate the measure on the string theory landscape.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing theoretical calculations within string theory.
- Analyzing quantum tunneling phenomena.
- Comparing decay rates with and without stringy effects.
Main Results:
- Stringy effects lead to unexpectedly large decay rates.
- These large rates persist even when tunneling through very high potential barriers.
- The measure on the string theory landscape requires significant modification.
Conclusions:
- Quantum effects in string theory dramatically influence vacuum stability.
- The landscape of string vacua is more dynamic than previously thought.
- This research necessitates a revision of cosmological models based on string theory.
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