What is false vacuum decay?
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The “vacuum energy” is the lowest possible energy state there is. This isn’t zero due to quantum effects causing a system to have a minimum energy at all times.
Now the false vacuum decay is an idea that the true lowest energy is a bit lower than the one we think of right now. We’re only in a local minimum, but with enough input energy (or waittime) the true vacuum could be reached at a much lower point, I.E. a random decay happens and the system falls apart into a new state we didn’t know that it existed before.
If that was true we’d basically sit in a universe sized nuclear bomb. Because any particle could randomly fall into the true vacuum and release A LOT of energy that way wich could prompt other particles near it to also undergo that decay.
An analogy would be “what if burned ashes had some secret energy stored somewhere that makes it burnable again under the right circumstances?”. The issue is, we are the ashes.
The “vacuum energy” is the lowest possible energy state there is. This isn’t zero due to quantum effects causing a system to have a minimum energy at all times.
Now the false vacuum decay is an idea that the true lowest energy is a bit lower than the one we think of right now. We’re only in a local minimum, but with enough input energy (or waittime) the true vacuum could be reached at a much lower point, I.E. a random decay happens and the system falls apart into a new state we didn’t know that it existed before.
If that was true we’d basically sit in a universe sized nuclear bomb. Because any particle could randomly fall into the true vacuum and release A LOT of energy that way wich could prompt other particles near it to also undergo that decay.
An analogy would be “what if burned ashes had some secret energy stored somewhere that makes it burnable again under the right circumstances?”. The issue is, we are the ashes.
The Higgs Field is a field that gives objects mass, basically it sets some of the laws of physics. It’s possible that there may exist a lower energy level this field would be happier in. If that lower energy level exists and were somehow reached, that would rewrite the laws of physics for the whole universe, effectively destroying all the existing galaxies and replacing them with something governed by entirely different physics
The Higgs Field is a field that gives objects mass, basically it sets some of the laws of physics. It’s possible that there may exist a lower energy level this field would be happier in. If that lower energy level exists and were somehow reached, that would rewrite the laws of physics for the whole universe, effectively destroying all the existing galaxies and replacing them with something governed by entirely different physics
So first, definition. Empty space isn’t empty. Vacuum has an energy. We currently hypothesise, and dearly hope, that this is a true energy floor. The lowest level possible.
But it’s theoretically possible that, like an excited electron emitting a photon, the universe can suddenly drop to a lower energy level.
Imagine that one day a sinkhole opens, but it just keeps growing, until all ground crumbles, we all fall in and all we ever knew is gone.
And it turns out that underneath isn’t more ground, but that earth is completely made of gas or something. Thoroughly different than what we’re used to and completely uninhabitable to us.
That’s sort of what false vacuum would be for our universe. Our universe rewriting itself to fit whatever new physics govern it t that new energy level.
The… Good? news is that this collapse would happen at the speed of light, so we wouldn’t feel anything. We’d be gone faster than we can notice.
The Bad news is that thos collapse would happen at the speed of light, so there is no physical way to see it coming and we’d be gone before we can notice.
So first, definition. Empty space isn’t empty. Vacuum has an energy. We currently hypothesise, and dearly hope, that this is a true energy floor. The lowest level possible.
But it’s theoretically possible that, like an excited electron emitting a photon, the universe can suddenly drop to a lower energy level.
Imagine that one day a sinkhole opens, but it just keeps growing, until all ground crumbles, we all fall in and all we ever knew is gone.
And it turns out that underneath isn’t more ground, but that earth is completely made of gas or something. Thoroughly different than what we’re used to and completely uninhabitable to us.
That’s sort of what false vacuum would be for our universe. Our universe rewriting itself to fit whatever new physics govern it t that new energy level.
The… Good? news is that this collapse would happen at the speed of light, so we wouldn’t feel anything. We’d be gone faster than we can notice.
The Bad news is that thos collapse would happen at the speed of light, so there is no physical way to see it coming and we’d be gone before we can notice.
You know when you’re hoovering with a good old Henry hoover and it’s all going well but it’s a bit weak ?
Well turns out there’s a sock half way down the tube and all the dust you’ve been sucking up has just collected in front of the sock in the tube
Imagine our universe and all its laws and rules and ‘reality’ exists in front of the sock
Suddenly the sock moves! It’s sucked into the hoover at full vacuum pressure! Schlooop there goes reality!
You know when you’re hoovering with a good old Henry hoover and it’s all going well but it’s a bit weak ?
Well turns out there’s a sock half way down the tube and all the dust you’ve been sucking up has just collected in front of the sock in the tube
Imagine our universe and all its laws and rules and ‘reality’ exists in front of the sock
Suddenly the sock moves! It’s sucked into the hoover at full vacuum pressure! Schlooop there goes reality!
So, to explain this, I’m going to have to teach you about two things.
The first is a fun word used by scientists called “metastable”. This is fun word, because it means something that is stable, but not really.
Imagine you and your whole class of other 5yr old kids are having a race down a really narrow path. There’s only really room for two people to stand next to one another, but you want to win so everyone goes as fast as you can. You don’t want to trip up on someone else’s feet though, so everyone keeps a little bit of distance apart.
You’re all going to end up pretty evenly bunched up, and it’s probably not going to change much, so it’s kind of stable. But if someone in the group trips or slows down, the whole thing might end up with people getting scraped knees.
That’s “metastable”.
Ever tried building a really, really tall Lego tower? Imagine one so tall that if you give it the slightest push, it’ll collapse. That’s also “metastable”.
The second thing to teach you is about what “vacuum” means here. It turns out, space isn’t actually empty- it’s full of weird things called “fields” and “forces” that have been around since at least the beginning of the universe, and basically tell the stuff your body is made up out of, what it’s allowed to do.
One of these “fields” (very simply, types of energy/stuff that affects everything everywhere) was “discovered” by a guy whose last name was “Higgs”: as a result we call it the “Higgs Field”. This field helps to do something very important to the stuff your body, the earth you’re stood on and all the other stuff you can touch in the whole universe: it gives it something called “mass”.
Without this field, our universe would not be possible and we wouldn’t be able to live in it.
With me so far? Well, some people think this field might be “metastable” – stable but not really, and that one day it might collapse like that Lego tower. If that happened then it would be bad for anyone in a really big part of space, as it would destroy everything there.
Not to worry though: we don’t know that the Higgs field is metastable, and if it is it will be a long, long, long time before anything is likely to happen.
So, to explain this, I’m going to have to teach you about two things.
The first is a fun word used by scientists called “metastable”. This is fun word, because it means something that is stable, but not really.
Imagine you and your whole class of other 5yr old kids are having a race down a really narrow path. There’s only really room for two people to stand next to one another, but you want to win so everyone goes as fast as you can. You don’t want to trip up on someone else’s feet though, so everyone keeps a little bit of distance apart.
You’re all going to end up pretty evenly bunched up, and it’s probably not going to change much, so it’s kind of stable. But if someone in the group trips or slows down, the whole thing might end up with people getting scraped knees.
That’s “metastable”.
Ever tried building a really, really tall Lego tower? Imagine one so tall that if you give it the slightest push, it’ll collapse. That’s also “metastable”.
The second thing to teach you is about what “vacuum” means here. It turns out, space isn’t actually empty- it’s full of weird things called “fields” and “forces” that have been around since at least the beginning of the universe, and basically tell the stuff your body is made up out of, what it’s allowed to do.
One of these “fields” (very simply, types of energy/stuff that affects everything everywhere) was “discovered” by a guy whose last name was “Higgs”: as a result we call it the “Higgs Field”. This field helps to do something very important to the stuff your body, the earth you’re stood on and all the other stuff you can touch in the whole universe: it gives it something called “mass”.
Without this field, our universe would not be possible and we wouldn’t be able to live in it.
With me so far? Well, some people think this field might be “metastable” – stable but not really, and that one day it might collapse like that Lego tower. If that happened then it would be bad for anyone in a really big part of space, as it would destroy everything there.
Not to worry though: we don’t know that the Higgs field is metastable, and if it is it will be a long, long, long time before anything is likely to happen.
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