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Effects of Gravity and Finite Temperature on the Decay of the False Vacuum

Lee C. Loveridge
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Abstract

I have calculated the exponential suppression factor in the decay rate of the false vacuum (per unit volume) for a real scalar field at finite temperature, in the presence of gravity, in the thin-wall approximation. Temperatures are assumed to be much greater than the inverse of the nucleation radius. The value of a local minimum of the scalar potential is arbitrary. Thus, both true and false vacuua may have arbitrary cosmological constants.

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Lee C. Loveridge. 2004-09-07. Effects of Gravity and Finite Temperature on the Decay of the False Vacuum. https://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0409093

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