Vacuum Stability as Orthogonality-Limited Persistence: A Structure-Based Interpretation of False Vacuum Decay

This paper presents a structure-based interpretation of false vacuum decay in terms of orthogonality-limited persistence. Rather than treating vacuum stability solely as a probabilistic tunneling problem, the framework distinguishes between accessibility of candidate configurations and their ability to persist as independently resolvable states.

Candidate vacuum configurations are interpreted as continuously explored through fluctuations, but most fail to stabilize because they do not satisfy orthogonality, boundary formation, and propagation conditions required for sustained resolution. Vacuum metastability is therefore reframed as a dynamically maintained condition arising from the continual failure of non-orthogonal configurations to achieve independent persistence.

The work connects false vacuum decay, nodal formation, effective degrees of freedom, and structural persistence within a unified constraint–accessibility–resolution framework.