Real Time Dynamics of false vacum decay

by Laura Batini (Heidelberg University)

Monday 8 Jan 2024, 11:30 → 12:30 Europe/Rome

324 (Dipartimento di fisica )

False vacuum decay is a well-defined initial value problem in (real)
time, in which the system starts from a metastable state that
eventually
decays and thermalizes due to fluctuations. It can be formulated in
non-equilibrium quantum field theory on a closed time path and studied
using correlation functions. We simulate the dynamics of a
relativistic
scalar field by classical-statistical field theory on a lattice in the
high-temperature regime. In general, we find that the decay rates
depend
on time. Furthermore, we show that the decay rates in real time are
comparable to those obtained by the conventional Euclidean (bounce)
approach in the presence of a time-dependent effective potential.
Finally, we show how quantum corrections to the equations of motion of
the one- and two-point correlation functions can lead to transitions
that are not captured by the statistical-classical approximations.