The tunneling decay rate in QFT beyond the thin wall approximation

Fuente: arXiv
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Autore principale: Flores-Hidalgo, G.
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Flores-Hidalgo, G.
author_facet Flores-Hidalgo, G.
contents The tunneling decay rate per unit volume in Quantum Field Theory (QFT), at order $\hbar$, is given by $Γ/V = Ae^{-B}$, where $B$ is the Euclidean action evaluated at the so-called bounce, and $A$ is proportional to the determinant of a second-order differential operator. The dominant contribution comes from the exponential factor. To estimate $Γ/V$, one must determine the bounce configuration, which satisfies a highly nonlinear equation. A common approach in the literature is the thin-wall approximation. In this work, we extend the formalism to cases where the thin-wall approximation is not valid. We employ a simple variational method to estimate both the bounce and the decay rate, and we find good agreement between our results and full numerical calculations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_12161
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The tunneling decay rate in QFT beyond the thin wall approximation
Flores-Hidalgo, G.
High Energy Physics - Theory
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
The tunneling decay rate per unit volume in Quantum Field Theory (QFT), at order $\hbar$, is given by $Γ/V = Ae^{-B}$, where $B$ is the Euclidean action evaluated at the so-called bounce, and $A$ is proportional to the determinant of a second-order differential operator. The dominant contribution comes from the exponential factor. To estimate $Γ/V$, one must determine the bounce configuration, which satisfies a highly nonlinear equation. A common approach in the literature is the thin-wall approximation. In this work, we extend the formalism to cases where the thin-wall approximation is not valid. We employ a simple variational method to estimate both the bounce and the decay rate, and we find good agreement between our results and full numerical calculations.
title The tunneling decay rate in QFT beyond the thin wall approximation
topic High Energy Physics - Theory
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.12161