arXiv subjects

Paul G. Abel

Publications and source records attributed to Paul G. Abel.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

The Higgs vacuum in the presence of strong gravitational fields: curvature induced electroweak symmetry restoration

I investigate the behaviour of the Higgs field in Schwarzschild spacetime by introducing a Planck-suppressed coupling between the Higgs field and the Kretschmann scalar, the leading curvature invariant in Ricci-flat geometries. I show that spacetime curvature modifies the Higgs effective potential, causing the vacuum expectation value to decrease continuously with increasing curvature. A critical curvature is derived at which the Higgs vacuum expectation value vanishes, signalling a curvature-induced restoration of electroweak symmetry. For Schwarzschild black holes, we obtain analytical expressions for the critical curvature, the corresponding phase-transition radius, and the Planck-curvature radius that marks the onset of quantum-gravity effects. These results identify a self-consistent region inside the event horizon in which electroweak symmetry is restored while the effective description remains applicable. The model provides a simple analytical framework linking strong gravitational fields to the Higgs vacuum through a single dimensionless curvature-Higgs coupling.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2020

Quantum Optics of an Oscillator Falling into a Black Hole

We present a quantum optics treatment of the near horizon behaviour of a quantum oscillator freely-falling into a pre-existing Schwarzschild black hole. We use Painleve-Gullstrand coordinates to define a global vacuum state. In contrast to an accelerated oscillator in the Minkowski vacuum, where there is no radiation beyond an initial transient, we find that the oscillator radiates positive energy to to infinity and negative energy into the black hole as it attempts to come into equilibrium with the ambient vacuum. We discuss the relationship of the model to Hawking radiation.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2016

Vacuum for a massless quantum scalar field outside a collapsing shell in anti-de Sitter space-time

We consider a massless quantum scalar field on a two-dimensional space-time describing a thin shell of matter collapsing to form a Schwarzschild-anti-de Sitter black hole. At early times, before the shell starts to collapse, the quantum field is in the vacuum state, corresponding to the Boulware vacuum on an eternal black hole space-time. The scalar field satisfies reflecting boundary conditions on the anti-de Sitter boundary. Using the Davies-Fulling-Unruh prescription for computing the renormalized expectation value of the stress-energy tensor, we find that at late times the black hole is in thermal equilibrium with a heat bath at the Hawking temperature, so the quantum field is in a state analogous to the Hartle-Hawking vacuum on an eternal black hole space-time.

gr-qc↗