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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Ian MossORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
We consider the possibility that small black holes can act as nucleation seeds for the decay of a metastable vacuum, focussing particularly on the Higgs potential. Using a thin-wall bubble approximation for the nucleation process, which is possible when generic quantum gravity corrections are added to the Higgs potential, we show that primordial black holes can stimulate vacuum decay. We demonstrate that for suitable parameter ranges, the vacuum decay process dominates over the Hawking evaporation process. Finally, we comment on the application of these results to vacuum decay seeded by black holes produced in particle collisions.
Author(s): Burda P, Gregory R, Moss IG
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Journal of High Energy Physics
Year: 2015
Volume: 2015
Issue: 8
Online publication date: 24/08/2015
Acceptance date: 01/08/2015
Date deposited: 06/01/2016
ISSN (electronic): 1029-8479
Publisher: Springer
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/JHEP08(2015)114
DOI: 10.1007/JHEP08(2015)114
Notes: arXiv:1503.07331v2
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