I Vacuum up-tunneling with high-energy events?

Suekdccia
Messages
352
Reaction score
30
TL;DR Summary
Vacuum up-tunneling with high-energy events?
I was reading these papers by Sean Carroll (https://arxiv.org/abs/1405.0298; https://arxiv.org/abs/1505.02780) in which, among other things, he argues against vacuum up-tunneling occurring in the universe. He only acknowledged that it would be possible in the first moments of the universe while it was heated, but after that the rate goes to zero.

Meanwhile, vacuum energy can be excited by high energetic events like high energy cosmic rays. I thought that cosmic rays, being massive particles, were not redshfited by the expansion of the universe as photons are; therefore, if cosmic rays were produced in the big bang or as a result of a previous false vacuum decay, then these particles could eventually excite the vacuum, essentially causing an up-tunneling.

However, apparently cosmic rays can get redshifted as well (https://astronomy.stackexchange.com...alent-of-the-red-shift-effect-for-cosmic-rays). Then, is it impossible that cosmic rays may excite the vacuum in the future? Is there any kind of energy that does not get "redshifted" and therefore could cause an up-tunneling of the vacuum? Is it really utterly impossible to excite the vacuum?
 

Thread 'Matter density right after the decoupling'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recombination_(cosmology) Was a matter density right after the decoupling low enough to consider the vacuum as the actual vacuum, and not the medium through which the light propagates with the speed lower than ##({\epsilon_0\mu_0})^{-1/2}##? I'm asking this in context of the calculation of the observable universe radius, where the time integral of the inverse of the scale factor is multiplied by the constant speed of light ##c##.
View full post »

Thread 'Rutgers finds a transparent Einstein Cross - apparently a dark matter "halo".'

The formal paper is here. The Rutgers University news has published a story about an image being closely examined at their New Brunswick campus. Here is an excerpt: Computer modeling of the gravitational lens by Keeton and Eid showed that the four visible foreground galaxies causing the gravitational bending couldn’t explain the details of the five-image pattern. Only with the addition of a large, invisible mass, in this case, a dark matter halo, could the model match the observations...
View full post »

Thread 'Big Bang and Infinite Universe'

Hi, I’m pretty new to cosmology and I’m trying to get my head around the Big Bang and the potential infinite extent of the universe as a whole. There’s lots of misleading info out there but this forum and a few others have helped me and I just wanted to check I have the right idea. The Big Bang was the creation of space and time. At this instant t=0 space was infinite in size but the scale factor was zero. I’m picturing it (hopefully correctly) like an excel spreadsheet with infinite...
View full post »

Similar threads

I Is there an equivalent "redshift" for cosmic rays due to expansion?
Replies
14
Views
3K
I Is Vacuum Decay from a False to True State Impossible or Just Unlikely?
Replies
2
Views
3K
I Could cosmic rays induce a vacuum decay in the future?
Replies
5
Views
3K
I Entropy reversal in an infinite static universe?
Replies
1
Views
2K
A Black hole mass coupled to expansion -- astrophysical source of dark energy?
3
Replies
134
Views
10K
I Four Questions on vacuum phase transitions in the Universe...
Replies
29
Views
2K
I Cosmic strings increasing internal energy?
Replies
1
Views
2K
I Questions about Negative Pressure and Vacuum Energy
Replies
5
Views
3K
I Is the Brans-Dicke Vacuum Cosmology Theory Still Relevant?
Replies
4
Views
2K
I Can gravitational waves gain energy in an expanding FRW spacetime?
Replies
3
Views
2K

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top