Positive curvature and scalar field tunneling in the landscape

Horn, Bart

doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.99.025010

Title: Positive curvature and scalar field tunneling in the landscape

Abstract

We present a model of vacuum tunneling through a classically forbidden region where a scalar field changes its value simultaneously over the entire volume of a (meta)stable ancestor vacuum with spherical curvature. The tunneling leaves the geometry unchanged but rearranges the energetic contributions of the matter sources, leading to an inflating solution with residual positive curvature. We show that there exists a parametric regime where this solution is self-consistent and dominates the overall tunneling rate. We conclude that an experimental detection of positive curvature, while not necessarily likely, therefore does not rule out the possibility that our present observer patch originated from semiclassical vacuum tunneling in a string or field theoretic landscape.

Authors:: Horn, Bart

Publication Date:: 2019-01-23

Research Org.:: Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States); Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); National Science Foundation (NSF)

OSTI Identifier:: 1491777

Alternate Identifier(s):: OSTI ID: 1610195

Grant/Contract Number:: FG02-92ER40699; SC001194; SC0009919; NNX10AN14G; PHY-1620610

Resource Type:: Published Article

Journal Name:: Physical Review D

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Name: Physical Review D Journal Volume: 99 Journal Issue: 2; Journal ID: ISSN 2470-0010

Publisher:: American Physical Society (APS)

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY; astronomy & astrophysics; physics; evolution of the Universe; field & string theory models & techniques; quantum field in curved spacetime

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                    Horn, Bart. Positive curvature and scalar field tunneling in the landscape.  United States: N. p., 2019. 
Web.  doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.99.025010.

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                    Horn, Bart. Positive curvature and scalar field tunneling in the landscape.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.99.025010

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                    Horn, Bart. Wed .  
"Positive curvature and scalar field tunneling in the landscape".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.99.025010.

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@article{osti_1491777,

  title        = {Positive curvature and scalar field tunneling in the landscape},

  author       = {Horn, Bart},

  abstractNote = {We present a model of vacuum tunneling through a classically forbidden region where a scalar field changes its value simultaneously over the entire volume of a (meta)stable ancestor vacuum with spherical curvature. The tunneling leaves the geometry unchanged but rearranges the energetic contributions of the matter sources, leading to an inflating solution with residual positive curvature. We show that there exists a parametric regime where this solution is self-consistent and dominates the overall tunneling rate. We conclude that an experimental detection of positive curvature, while not necessarily likely, therefore does not rule out the possibility that our present observer patch originated from semiclassical vacuum tunneling in a string or field theoretic landscape.},

  doi          = {10.1103/PhysRevD.99.025010},

  journal      = {Physical Review D},

  number       = 2,

  volume       = 99,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {2019},

  month        = {1}

}

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Figures / Tables:

FIG. 1: The effective potential for different values of the scale factor. $ϕ_i$ is the local minimum on the left, and $ϕ_f$ is on the right. Green: a = a_min, Blue: a = a_max. Dashed red: a < a_min (classically forbidden).

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Similar Records

Title: Positive curvature and scalar field tunneling in the landscape

Abstract

Citation Formats

Figures / Tables:

What if Planck’s Universe isn’t flat? journal, April 2013

Supercooled phase transitions in the very early universe journal, March 1982

Quantum tunneling and negative eigenvalues journal, February 1988

Birth of inflationary universes journal, June 1983

Tunneling transitions with gravitation: Breakdown of the quasiclassical approximation journal, October 1985

How flat can you get? A model comparison perspective on the curvature of the Universe journal, July 2009

A Measurement of Gravitational Lensing of the Microwave Background Using South pole Telescope data journal, August 2012

Thermal derivation of the Coleman-De Luccia tunneling prescription journal, September 2007

Exploring eternal stability with the simple harmonic universe journal, August 2014

Populating the Whole Landscape journal, October 2011

Quantum creation of a universe with Ω≠1: Singular and nonsingular instantons journal, September 1998

Transitions between de Sitter minima journal, November 2007

False Vacuum Decay with Gravity: Negative Mode Problem journal, September 1992

What can the observation of nonzero curvature tell us? journal, July 2012

Cosmological perturbations in a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker model with a scalar field and false vacuum decay journal, September 2000

Bounces with O ( 3 ) × O ( 2 ) symmetry journal, November 2012

Erratum: What if Planck’s Universe isn’t flat? [Phys. Rev. D 87 , 081301(R) (2013).] journal, June 2013

Hawking-Moss Bounces and Vacuum Decay Rates journal, June 2007

Inflation after false vacuum decay: Observational prospects after Planck journal, April 2015

Bounds on amplitudes in effective theories with massive spinning particles journal, August 2018

Singular instantons and the creation of open universes journal, June 1998

Origin of the Universe as a quantum tunneling event journal, April 1982

Wave function of the Universe journal, December 1983

Observational consequences of a landscape journal, March 2006

Can we have inflation with > 1?* journal, May 2003

Quadratic action of the Hawking-Turok instanton journal, August 1998

Gravitational effects on and of vacuum decay journal, June 1980

Quantum creation of universes journal, July 1984

Spatial curvature falsifies eternal inflation journal, June 2012

Planck 2015 results : XIII. Cosmological parameters journal, September 2016

Stabilizing oscillating universes against quantum decay journal, July 2015

Towards a solution of the negative mode problem in quantum tunnelling with gravity journal, July 2015

Homogeneous modes of cosmological instantons journal, May 2001

Spatial curvature endgame: Reaching the limit of curvature determination journal, July 2016

Inflation after false vacuum decay: new evidence from BICEP2 journal, December 2014

Number of negative modes of the oscillating bounces journal, April 2006

LATE-TIME COSMOLOGY WITH 21 cm INTENSITY MAPPING EXPERIMENTS journal, April 2015

Collapse of simple harmonic universe journal, January 2012

Geometrical constraint on curvature with BAO experiments journal, December 2015

Creation of universes from nothing journal, November 1982

A simple harmonic universe journal, February 2014

Does string theory predict an open universe? journal, February 2008

Quantum tunneling effect in oscillating Friedmann cosmology journal, September 1995

Negative mode problem in false vacuum decay with gravity journal, June 2000

Fluctuations about cosmological instantons journal, July 2006

What if Planck’s Universe isn’t flat?
journal, April 2013

Supercooled phase transitions in the very early universe
journal, March 1982

Quantum tunneling and negative eigenvalues
journal, February 1988

Birth of inflationary universes
journal, June 1983

Tunneling transitions with gravitation: Breakdown of the quasiclassical approximation
journal, October 1985

How flat can you get? A model comparison perspective on the curvature of the Universe
journal, July 2009

A Measurement of Gravitational Lensing of the Microwave Background Using South pole Telescope data
journal, August 2012

Thermal derivation of the Coleman-De Luccia tunneling prescription
journal, September 2007

Exploring eternal stability with the simple harmonic universe
journal, August 2014

Populating the Whole Landscape
journal, October 2011

Quantum creation of a universe with Ω≠1: Singular and nonsingular instantons
journal, September 1998

Transitions between de Sitter minima
journal, November 2007

False Vacuum Decay with Gravity: Negative Mode Problem
journal, September 1992

What can the observation of nonzero curvature tell us?
journal, July 2012

Cosmological perturbations in a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker model with a scalar field and false vacuum decay
journal, September 2000

Bounces with $O (3) \times O (2)$ symmetry
journal, November 2012

Erratum: What if Planck’s Universe isn’t flat? [Phys. Rev. D 87 , 081301(R) (2013).]
journal, June 2013

Hawking-Moss Bounces and Vacuum Decay Rates
journal, June 2007

Inflation after false vacuum decay: Observational prospects after Planck
journal, April 2015

Bounds on amplitudes in effective theories with massive spinning particles
journal, August 2018

Singular instantons and the creation of open universes
journal, June 1998

Origin of the Universe as a quantum tunneling event
journal, April 1982

Wave function of the Universe
journal, December 1983

Observational consequences of a landscape
journal, March 2006

Can we have inflation with > 1?*
journal, May 2003

Quadratic action of the Hawking-Turok instanton
journal, August 1998

Gravitational effects on and of vacuum decay
journal, June 1980

Quantum creation of universes
journal, July 1984

Spatial curvature falsifies eternal inflation
journal, June 2012

Planck 2015 results : XIII. Cosmological parameters
journal, September 2016

Stabilizing oscillating universes against quantum decay
journal, July 2015

Towards a solution of the negative mode problem in quantum tunnelling with gravity
journal, July 2015

Homogeneous modes of cosmological instantons
journal, May 2001

Spatial curvature endgame: Reaching the limit of curvature determination
journal, July 2016

Inflation after false vacuum decay: new evidence from BICEP2
journal, December 2014

Number of negative modes of the oscillating bounces
journal, April 2006

LATE-TIME COSMOLOGY WITH 21 cm INTENSITY MAPPING EXPERIMENTS
journal, April 2015

Collapse of simple harmonic universe
journal, January 2012

Geometrical constraint on curvature with BAO experiments
journal, December 2015

Creation of universes from nothing
journal, November 1982

A simple harmonic universe
journal, February 2014

Does string theory predict an open universe?
journal, February 2008

Quantum tunneling effect in oscillating Friedmann cosmology
journal, September 1995

Negative mode problem in false vacuum decay with gravity
journal, June 2000

Fluctuations about cosmological instantons
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