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Published January 8, 2023 | Version 2
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Artificially-Induced Vacuum Decay: Theoretical Consequences for The Solar System and Beyond

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NOTE: This version contains an incorrect instance of the section "Visualizing the Decay", which formulates and graphs the function \(N_{P}(t)\). Please refer to the updated version for the the revised form of the paper.
Vacuum decay is defined as a theoretical / speculative concept in physics that refers to the instability of the zero-point, or vacuum, state of the quantum field, derived from the potentially limitless "lowering" of the potential energy state of the field by processes like quantum tunneling. It suggests that if any particle in the universe, by chance, decreased into a more stable, lower vacuum state, a "bubble" of the "contaminated" potential energy held by the newly modified Higgs boson would spread at the speed of light at every direction on space (forming a perfect sphere), and the universe would, eventually, undergo a radical phase transition down to the very fabric of physics and chemistry themselves. This phase transition is called a “false vacuum decay", referencing the idea that the vacuum of our universe is a “false” one. This brief article will primarily explore the theoretical consequences that an artificially-induced vacuum decay, by some arbitrary unknown process or technology, would have on the Solar System and the universe as a whole if it were to be initiated on the terrestrial north pole.

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References

  • Mukaida, K; Yamada, M. False Vacuum Decay Catalyzed by Black Holes. Phys. Rev. D 96, 103514 (2017).
  • Abdollahi, S; et al. A gamma-ray determination of the Universe's star formation history. Science 362, 1031-1034 (2018).
  • Riess, A. G; et al. A Comprehensive Measurement of the Local Value of the Hubble Constant with 1 km/s/Mpc Uncertainty from the Hubble Space Telescope and the SH0ES Team. Preprint at https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.04510 (2022).