Negative mass makes perfect physical sense as long as the dominant energy condition is satisfied by the corresponding energy-momentum tensor. Heretofore, only {\it configurations} of negative mass had been found \cite{Belletete:2013nqa,Mbarek:2014ppa}, the analysis did not address stability or dynamics. In this paper, we analyze both of these criteria. We demonstrate the existence of {\it stable}, static, negative mass bubbles in an asymptotically de Sitter space-time. The bubbles are solutions of the Einstein equations and correspond to an interior region of space-time containing a specific mass distribution, separated by a thin wall from the exact, negative mass Schwarzschild-de Sitter space-time in the exterior. We apply the Israel junction conditions at the wall. For the case of an interior corresponding simply to de Sitter space-time with a different cosmological constant from the outside space-time, separated by a thin wall with energy density that is independent of the radius, we find static but unstable solutions which satisfy the dominant energy condition everywhere. The bubbles can collapse through spherically symmetric configurations to the exact, singular, negative mass Schwarzschild-de Sitter solution. Interestingly, this provides a counter-example of the cosmic censorship hypothesis. Alternatively, the junction conditions can be used to give rise to an interior mass distribution that depends on the potential for the radius of the wall. We show that for no choice of the potential, for positive energy density on the wall that is independent of the radius, can we get a solution that is non-singular at the origin. However, if we allow the energy density on the wall to depend on the radius of the bubble, we can find {\it stable}, static, non-singular solutions of negative mass which everywhere satisfy the dominant energy condition.
We explore the bubble spacetimes which can be obtained from double analytic continuations of static and rotating black holes in anti-de Sitter space. In particular, we find that rotating black holes with elliptic horizon lead to bubble spacetimes only in dimension greater than five. For dimension greater than seven, the topology of the bubble can be non-spherical. However, a bubble spacetime is shown to arise from a rotating de Sitter black hole in four dimensions. In all cases, the evolution of the bubble is of de Sitter type. Double analytic continuations of hyperbolic black holes and branes…
Cosmological acceleration is difficult to accommodate in theories of fundamental interactions involving supergravity and superstrings. An alternative is that the acceleration is not universal but happens in a large localized region, which is possible in theories admitting regular black holes with de Sitter-like interiors. We considerably strengthen this scenario by placing it in a global anti-de Sitter background, where the formation of 'de Sitter bubbles' will be enhanced by mechanisms analogous to the Bizon-Rostworowski instability in general relativity. This opens an arena for discussing th…
We study various bubble solutions in string/M theories obtained by double Wick rotations of (non-)extremal brane configurations. Typically, the geometry interpolates de Sitter space-time times non-compact extra-dimensional space in the near-bubble wall region and the asymptotic flat Minkowski space-time. These bubble solutions provide nice background geometries reconciling string/M theories with de Sitter space-time. For the application of these solutions to cosmology, we consider multi-bubble solutions and find landscapes of varying cosmological constant. Double Wick rotation in string/M theo…
We study the motion of thin-shell bubbles and their tunneling in anti de Sitter (AdS) background. We are interested in the case when the outside of a shell is a Schwarzschild-AdS space (false vacuum) and the inside of it is an AdS space with a lower vacuum energy (true vacuum). If a collapsing true vacuum bubble is created, classically it will form a Schwarzschild-AdS black hole. However, this collapsing bubble can tunnel to a bouncing bubble that moves out to spatial infinity. Then, although the classical causal structure of a collapsing true vacuum bubble has the singularity and the event ho…
We study the vacuum decay and the bubble nucleation in the anti-de Sitter black holes. In the bubble nucleation spacetime, the interior and the exterior of the bubble wall are described by two anti-de Sitter black hole spacetimes with different cosmological constants. We calculate the Euclidean action of the bubble nucleation spacetime and give the numerical results of the tunneling rates for different cases. It is shown that the black hole can act as a source of inhomogeneities and catalyze the vacuum decay and the bubble nucleation in the anti-de Sitter spacetime. For the RNAdS black holes, …
We study the possibility of the existence of negative mass bubbles within a de Sitter space-time background with matter content corresponding to a perfect fluid. It is shown that there exist configurations of the perfect fluid, that everywhere satisfy the dominant energy condition, the Einstein equations and the equations of hydrostatic equilibrium, however asymptotically approach the exact solution of Schwarzschid-de Sitter space-time with a negative mass.
We study the effect of a bubble wall on the entanglement entropy of a free massive scalar field between two causally disconnected open charts in de Sitter space. We assume there is a delta-functional wall between the open charts. This can be thought of as a model of pair creation of bubble universes in de Sitter space. We first derive the Euclidean vacuum mode functions of the scalar field in the presence of the wall in the coordinates that respect the open charts. We then derive the Bogoliubov transformation between the Euclidean vacuum and the open chart vacua that makes the reduced density …
We study false vacuum decay in a black hole (BH) spacetime with an angular momentum. Considering the false vacuum region described by a Kerr-de Sitter geometry, under the thin wall approximation, we can obtain the stationary configuration of the vacuum bubble seen from the outside false vacuum region without specifying the geometry inside the domain wall. Then, assuming the true vacuum region is described by a Kerr geometry, we can fix the mass and the spin parameter for the Kerr geometry by imposing the 1st junction conditions and conservation of the angular momentum. Although the assumption …
We study the proposal that a de Sitter (dS) universe with an Anti-de Sitter (AdS) bubble can be replaced by a dS universe with a boundary CFT. To explore this duality, we consider incident gravitons coming from the dS universe through the bubble wall into the AdS bubble in the original picture. In the dual picture, this process has to be identified with the absorption of gravitons by CFT matter. We have obtained a general formula for the absorption probability in general $d+1$ spacetime dimensions. The result shows the different behavior depending on whether spacetime dimensions are even or od…
The interface between a big bubble of true AdS$_D$ vacuum expanding inside a false AdS$_D$ vacuum is a model of an inflating $D-1$ dimensional universe. It looks like an interesting setup to study fundamentals of inflation. A recent computation shows that the prediction of this model for the wavefunction of the universe disagrees with that of Hartle and Hawking. We show that this discrepancy is because the effective $D-1$ dimensional description of the model is spin-$0$ (Nordström) gravity rather than spin-2 (Einstein) gravity.
We consider the entropy of a quantum scalar field on a background black hole geometry in asymptotically anti-de Sitter space-time, using the ``brick wall'' approach. In anti-de Sitter space, the theory has no infra-red divergences, and all ultra-violet divergences can be absorbed into a renormalization of the coupling constants in the one-loop effective gravitational Lagrangian. We then calculate the finite renormalized entropy for the Schwarzschild-anti-de Sitter and extremal Reissner-Nordstrom-anti-de Sitter black holes, and show that, at least for large black holes, the entropy is entirely …
We study a coupled system of gravitational waves and a domain wall which is the boundary of a vacuum bubble in de Sitter spacetime. To treat the system, we use the metric junction formalism of Israel. We show that the dynamical degree of the bubble wall is lost and the bubble wall can oscillate only while the gravitational waves go across it. It means that the gravitational backreaction on the motion of the bubble wall can not be ignored.
Constructing an explicit compactification yielding a metastable de Sitter (dS) vacuum in a UV consistent string theory is an incredibly difficult open problem. Motivated by this issue, as well as the conjecture that all non-supersymmetric AdS vacua must decay, we discuss the alternative possibility of realizing an effective four-dimensional dS cosmology on a codimension-one bubble wall separating two AdS$_5$ vacua. The construction further elaborates on the scenario of arXiv:1807.01570, where the aforementioned cosmology arises due to a non-perturbative decay and is embedded in a five-dimensio…
The influence of the shape of scalar field potential on the outcome of vacuum decay in de Sitter universe is studied. Sufficient condition for vacuum decay via bubble formation, described by Coleman - de Luccia instanton, is revisited and necessary condition is found. Both conditions require that the curvature of the potential is greater than 4 $\times$ (Hubble constant)$^2$, but while the sufficient condition states that this inequality is to be valid at the top of the barrier, the necessary condition requires that it holds at least somewhere throughout the barrier. The conditions leave a 'gr…
We investigate the decay of metastable de Sitter, Minkowski and anti-de Sitter vacua catalyzed by a black hole and a cloud of strings. We apply the method to the creation of the four dimensional bubble universe in the five dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetime recently proposed by Banerjee, Danielsson, Dibitetto, Giri and Schillo. We study the bounce action for the creation and find that the bubble with very small cosmological constant, of order $Λ^{(4)}/M^2_4 \sim 10^{-120}$, is favored by the catalysis by assuming appropriate mass scales of the black hole and the cloud of strings to reproduce…
We construct an instanton describing the pair production of non-Kaluza Klein bubbles of nothing in higher odd dimensional de Sitter spaces. In addition to showing that higher dimensional de Sitter spaces have a nonzero probability to become topologically nontrivial, this process provides direct evidence for the association of entropy with cosmological horizons and that non-Kaluza Klein bubbles of nothing are a necessary ingredient in string theory or any other consistent quantum theory of gravity in higher dimensions.
We extend the study of time-dependent backgrounds in the AdS/CFT correspondence by examining the relation between bulk and boundary for the smooth 'bubble of nothing' solution and for the locally AdS black hole which has the same asymptotic geometry. These solutions are asymptotically locally AdS, with a conformal boundary conformal to de Sitter space cross a circle. We study the cosmological horizons and relate their thermodynamics in the bulk and boundary. We consider the alpha-vacuum ambiguity associated with the de Sitter space, and find that only the Euclidean vacuum is well-defined on th…
We assess the effects of a collision between two vacuum bubbles in the thin-wall limit. After describing the outcome of a generic collision possessing the expected hyperbolic symmetry, we focus on collisions experienced by a bubble containing positive vacuum energy, which could in principle contain our observable universe. We provide criteria governing whether the post-collision domain wall accelerates towards or away from this "observation" bubble, and discuss the implications for observers located at various positions inside of the bubble. Then, we identify the class of solutions which have …
We revisit the issue of the stability in the Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati model, by considering the nucleation of bubbles of the conventional branch within the self-accelerating branch. We construct an instanton describing this process in the thin wall approximation. On one side of the bubble wall, the bulk consists of the exterior of the brane while on the other side it is the interior. The solution requires the presence of a 2-brane (the bubble wall) which induces the transition. However, we show that this instanton cannot be realized as the thin wall limit of any smooth solution. Once the bubble…
Bubbles of nothing are a class of vacuum decay processes present in some theories with compactified extra dimensions. We investigate the existence and properties of bubbles of nothing in models where the scalar pseudomoduli controlling the size of the extra dimensions are stabilized at positive vacuum energy, which is a necessary feature of any realistic model. We map the construction of bubbles of nothing to a four-dimensional Coleman-De Luccia problem and establish necessary conditions on the asymptotic behavior of the scalar potential for the existence of suitable solutions. We perform deta…
Cosmological phase transitions proceed via the nucleation of bubbles that subsequently expand and collide. The resulting gravitational wave spectrum depends crucially on the bubble wall velocity. Microscopic calculations of this velocity are challenging even in weakly coupled theories. We use holography to compute the wall velocity from first principles in a strongly coupled, non-Abelian, four-dimensional gauge theory. The wall velocity is determined dynamically in terms of the nucleation temperature. We find an approximately linear relation between the velocity and the ratio $Δ\mathcal{P}/\ma…
We investigate the scattering of fermions off domain walls at the electroweak phase transition in presence of a magnetic field. We consider both the bubble wall and the kink domain wall. We derive and solve the Dirac equation for fermions with momentum perpendicular to the walls, and compute the transmission and reflection coefficients. In the case of kink domain wall, we briefly discuss the zero mode solutions localized on the wall. The possibile role of the magnetic field for the electroweak baryogenesis is also discussed.
We comprehensively study the effects of bubble wall thickness and speed on the gravitational wave emission spectrum of collisions of two vacuum bubbles. We numerically simulate a large dynamical range, making use of symmetry to reduce the dimensionality. The high-frequency slope of the gravitational wave spectrum is shown to depend on the thickness of the bubble wall, becoming steeper for thick-wall bubbles, in agreement with recent fully 3+1 dimensional lattice simulations of many-bubble collisions. This dependence is present, even for highly relativistic bubble wall collisions. We use the re…
We study collision of two domain walls in 5-dimensional asymptotically Anti de Sitter spacetime. This may provide the reheating mechanism of an ekpyrotic (or cyclic) brane universe, in which two BPS branes collide and evolve into a hot big bang universe. We evaluate a change of scalar field making the domain wall and can investigate the effect of a negative cosmological term in the bulk to the collision process and the evolution of our universe.
We present a general method for computing the gravitational radiation arising from the motion of bubble walls or thin fluid shells in cosmological phase transitions. We discuss the application of this method to different wall kinematics. In particular, we derive general expressions for the bubble collision mechanism in the envelope approximation and the so-called bulk flow model, and we also consider deformations from the spherical bubble shape. We calculate the gravitational wave spectrum for a specific model of deformations on a definite size scale, which gives a peak away from that of the b…
We consider the model of a false vacuum bubble with a thin wall where the surface energy density is composed of two different components, "domain-wall" type and "dust" type, with opposite signs. We find stably oscillating solutions, which we call "breathing bubbles". By decay to a lower mass state, such a breathing bubble could become either i) a child universe or ii) a bubble that "eats up" the original universe, depending on the sign of the surface energy of the "domain-wall" component. We also discuss the effect of the finite-thickness corrections to the thin-wall approximation and possible…
A new method to obtain thick domain wall solutions to the coupled Einstein scalar field system is presented. The procedure allows the construction of irregular walls from well known ones, such that the spacetime associated to them are physically different. As consequence of the approach, we obtain two irregular geometries corresponding to thick domain walls with $dS$ expansion and topological double kink embedded in $AdS$ spacetime. In particular, the double brane can be derived from a fake superpotential.
It has recently been shown in high resolution numerical simulations that relativistic collisions of bubbles in the context of a multi-vacua potential may lead to the creation of bubbles in a new vacuum. In this paper, we show that scalar fields with only potential interactions behave like free fields during high-speed collisions; the kick received by them in a collision can be deduced simply by a linear superposition of the bubble wall profiles. This process is equivalent to the scattering of solitons in 1+1 dimensions. We deduce an expression for the field excursion (shortly after a collision…
The Casimir stress on a spherical shell in de Sitter background for massless scalar field satisfying Dirichlet boundary conditions on the shell is calculated. The metric is written in conformally flat form. Although the metric is time dependent no particles are created. The Casimir stress is calculated for inside and outside of the shell with different backgrounds corresponding to different cosmological constants. The detail dynamics of the bubble depends on different parameter of the model. Specifically, bubbles with true vacuum inside expand if the difference in the vacuum energies is small,…
In this letter we discuss cosmological first order phase transitions with de Sitter bubbles nucleating on (inhomogeneous) matter backgrounds. The de Sitter bubble can be a toy model for an inflationary phase of universes like our own. Using the thin wall approximation and the Israel junction method we trace the classical evolution of the formed bubbles within a compound model. We first address homogeneous ambient space (FRW model) and already find that bubbles nucleated in a dust dominated background cannot expand. For an inhomogeneous dust background (LTB model) we describe cases with at leas…
During a cosmological first-order phase transition, particles of the plasma crossing the bubble walls can radiate a gauge boson. The resulting pressure cannot be computed perturbatively for large coupling constant and/or large supercooling. We resum the real and virtual emissions at all leading-log orders, both analytically and numerically using a Monte-Carlo simulation. We find that radiated bosons are dominantly soft and that the resulting retarding pressure on relativistic bubble walls is linear both in the Lorentz boost and in the order parameter, up to a log. We further quantitatively dis…
We develop a theory of static BPS domain walls in stringy landscape and present a large family of BPS walls interpolating between different supersymmetric vacua. Examples include KKLT models, STU models, type IIB multiple flux vacua, and models with several Minkowski and AdS vacua. After the uplifting, some of the vacua become dS, whereas some others remain AdS. The near-BPS walls separating these vacua may be seen as bubble walls in the theory of vacuum decay. As an outcome of our investigation of the BPS walls, we found that the decay rate of dS vacua to a collapsing space with a negative va…
We consider thick domain walls in a de Sitter universe following paper by Basu and Vilenkin. However, we are interested not only in stationary solutions found therein, but also investigate the general case of domain wall evolution with time. When the wall thickness parameter, $δ_0$, is smaller than $H^{-1}/\sqrt{2}$, where $H$ is the Hubble parameter in de Sitter space-time, then the stationary solutions exist, and initial field configurations tend with time to the stationary ones. However, there are no stationary solutions for $δ_0 \geq H^{-1}/\sqrt{2}$. We have calculated numerically the rat…
We consider the chiral field model of the source of the Kerr-Newman (KN) solution and obtain that it represents a supersymmetric spinning soliton, bounded by the chiral domain wall (DW) of the ellipsoidal form. The known method for transformation of the planar DW to Bogomolnyi form we generalize to the curved DW-bubble adapted to the Kerr coordinate system and obtain the supersymmetric BPS-saturated source of the KN solution, having some remarkable features, in particular, the quantum angular momentum. The main new result is that the source forms a breather, i.e. the DW-antiDW combination. Tak…
From the partition function of canonical ensemble we derive the entropy of the de Sitter space by anti-Wick rotation. And then from the one-loop bubble $S^2\times S^2$ created from vacuum fluctuation in de Sitter background space, we obtain the one-loop quantum correction to the entropy of de Sitter space.