Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

Philipp Burda

Publications and source records attributed to Philipp Burda.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2018

Holographic Reconstruction of Bubbles

We discuss the holographic reconstruction of static thin bubble walls in BTZ black hole geometries. We consider two reconstruction prescriptions suggested in recent years: hole-ography and light-cone cuts, in the context of thin bubble walls, and comment on their applicability in the presence of non-trivial matter in the bulk. We find that while the light-cone cuts prescription goes through within its own limitations, the current hole-ographic approaches are inadequate to describe bubble spacetimes completely. Much like entanglement shadows found around BTZ black holes and conical defects in the bulk, we find that thin bubbles are accompanied by shadows of their own, which are regions of spacetime which are only partially probed by minimal geodesics. We speculate that such shadows might be a generic feature of the presence of matter in the bulk.

hep-th↗
arXiv2017

The vacuum seagull: evaluating a 3-loop Feynman diagram with 3 mass scales

We study a 3-loop 5-propagator Feynman Integral, which we call the vacuum seagull, with arbitrary masses and spacetime dimension using the Symmetries of Feynman Integrals method. It is our first example with potential numerators. We determine the associated group $G \subset GL(3)$ which happens to be 5 dimensional and the associated set of 5 differential equations. $G$ is determined by a geometric approach which we term "current freedom". We find the generic $G$-orbit to be co-dimension 0 and hence the method is maximally effective, and the diagram reduces to a line integral over simpler diagrams. For a reduced parameter space with 3 mass scales we are able to present explicit results in terms of special functions. This might be the first such example.

hep-th↗
arXiv2016

The fate of the Higgs vacuum

We have recently suggested that tiny black holes can act as nucleation seeds for the decay of the metastable Higgs vacuum. Previous results applied only to the nucleation of thin-wall bubbles, and covered a very small region of parameter space. This paper considers bubbles of arbitrary profile and reaches the same conclusion: black holes seed rapid vacuum decay. Seeded and unseeded nucleation rates are compared, and the gravitational back reaction of the bubbles is taken into account. The evolution of the bubble interior is described for the unseeded nucleation. Results are presented for the renormalisation group improved Standard Model Higgs potential, and a simple effective model representing new physics.

hep-th↗
arXiv2015

Vacuum metastability with black holes

We consider the possibility that small black holes can act as nucleation seeds for the decay of a metastable vacuum, focussing particularly on the Higgs potential. Using a thin-wall bubble approximation for the nucleation process, which is possible when generic quantum gravity corrections are added to the Higgs potential, we show that primordial black holes can stimulate vacuum decay. We demonstrate that for suitable parameter ranges, the vacuum decay process dominates over the Hawking evaporation process. Finally, we comment on the application of these results to vacuum decay seeded by black holes produced in particle collisions.

hep-th↗
arXiv2015

Gravity and the stability of the Higgs vacuum

We discuss the effect of gravitational interactions on the lifetime of the Higgs vacuum where generic quantum gravity corrections are taken into account. We show how small black holes can act as seeds for vacuum decay, spontaneously nucleating a new Higgs phase centered on the black hole with a lifetime measured in millions of Planck times rather than billions of years. The constraints on parameter space of corrections to the Higgs potential are outlined, and implications for collider black holes discussed.

hep-th↗
arXiv2014

Lifshitz flows in IIB and dual field theories

We construct solutions describing flows between AdS and Lifshitz spacetimes in IIB supergravity. We find that flows from AdS$_5$ can approach either AdS$_3$ or Lifshitz$_3$ in the IR depending on the values of the deformation from AdS$_5$. Surprisingly, the choice between AdS and Lifshitz IR depends only on the value of the deformation, not on its character; the breaking of the Lorentz symmetry in the flows with Lifshitz IR is spontaneous. We find that the values of the deformation which lead to flows to Lifshitz make the UV field theory dual to the AdS$_5$ geometry unstable, so that these flows do not offer an approach to defining the field theory dual to the Lifshitz spacetime.

hep-th↗
arXiv2010

A simple way to take into account back reaction on pair creation

We propose a simple and systematic way of accounting for the back reaction on the background field due to the pair creation in the four--dimensional scalar QED. This method is straightforwardly generalizable to the gravity backgrounds. In the case of QED with the instantly switched on constant electric field background we obtain a remarkably simple formula for its decay rate.

hep-th↗