noun
Meaning 1
A (hypothetical) metastable vacuum whose energy state is at a local minimum different from the global minimum; a vacuum that is relatively stable and long-lived but which still may decay to a lower-energy state.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics, quantum-field-theory
Examples
- 1989, Alan Guth, Paul Steinhardt, The inflationary universe, Paul Davies, The New Physics, Cambridge University Press, 2000 (1992) Paperback Edition, page 57, The energy density of the false vacuum can be attributed entirely to the Higgs fields. Furthermore, as can be seen in figure 3.5, any deviation of the Higgs fields from their false-vacuum values would require an increase in energy density. This implies that the false vacuum has a peculiar property which distinguishes it from all familiar materials: when the volume of a region of false vacuum is increased, the energy density cannot decrease, but instead remains at a constant value.
- 2010, Sean Carroll, From Eternity to Here, Oneworld Publications, eBook Edition, When a field is stuck in a false vacuum, it wants to decay to the lower-energy true vacuum.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided