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Fluctuations about Cosmological Instantons

Gerald V. Dunne·Qing-hai Wang
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Abstract

We study the semiclassical fluctuation problem around bounce solutions for a self-interacting scalar field in curved space. As in flat space, the fluctuation problem separates into partial waves labeled by an integer l, and we determine the large l behavior of the fluctuation determinants, a quantity needed to define a finite fluctuation prefactor. We also show that while the Coleman-De Luccia bounce solution has a single negative mode in the l=0 sector, the oscillating bounce solutions also have negative modes in partial waves higher than the s-wave, further evidence that they are not directly related to quantum tunneling.

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Gerald V. Dunne, Qing-hai Wang. 2006-05-17. Fluctuations about Cosmological Instantons. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.74.024018

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