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False Vacuum Decay

All articles tagged with #false vacuum decay

science29 days ago•34 min saved

Lab Recreates False Vacuum Decay in Quantum Experiment, Raising Doomsday Questions

Physicists in China simulated a false vacuum decay using a lab-based ring of Rydberg atoms; by applying a stronger symmetry-breaking laser, they observed faster decay of the false vacuum and formation of a bubble containing a true vacuum, marking a step toward understanding the dynamics of such events and informing discussions about a hypothetical universe-ending scenario, though such a doomsday outcome remains exceedingly unlikely.

via Yahoo|

#false-vacuum-decay #quantum-physics #rydberg-atoms

science1 month ago•35 min saved

Lab Realizes False Vacuum Decay in a Quantum Analog, Probing Universe’s Stability

Physicists have created an experimental analog of false vacuum decay—the hypothetical process that could, in theory, trigger a bubble of lower-energy vacuum that expands at light speed and rewrites physics. Using controllable quantum systems (like ultracold atoms or quantum circuits), researchers mimic the field dynamics predicted by quantum field theory to study bubble nucleation and expansion, providing empirical insight into vacuum stability. While the real universe’s decay probability is vanishingly small on human timescales, these analog experiments help test theoretical predictions about the Higgs potential and electroweak vacuum, and guide future work toward higher-fidelity simulations with more qubits to sharpen constraints on cosmic stability.

via Yahoo|

#analog-quantum-simulation #false-vacuum-decay #higgs-boson

science1 month ago•6 min saved

Lab Triggers False Vacuum Analogy with Ring of Rydberg Atoms

Physicists at Tsinghua University used a ring of highly excited Rydberg atoms to simulate false vacuum decay, engineering two competing vacuum states that act like false and true vacua. By breaking symmetry with lasers, the ring transitions toward the true vacuum, producing a quantum bubble that mirrors how a lower-energy state could nucleate and, in theory, sweep across the cosmos. The experiment provides a controllable platform to study the quantum–relativistic crossover and test predictions about how such a transition might unfold in principle, without posing any danger to reality.

via ScienceAlert|

#false-vacuum-decay #quantum-field-theory #quantum-simulation