Decay of de Sitter vacua by thermal activation
arXiv:hep-th/0404097 · doi:10.1023/B:IJTP.0000048178.69097.fb
Abstract
Decay of a de Sitter vacuum may proceed through a "static" instanton, representing pair creation of critical bubbles separated by a distance comparable to the Hubble radius -- a process somewhat analogous to thermal activation in flat space. We compare this with related processes recently discussed in the literature.
19 pages, 8 figures, prepared for the proceedings of the 8th Peyresq meeting