TY - JOUR
T1 - Eternal inflation, bubble collisions, and the disintegration of the persistence of memory
AU - Freivogel, Ben
AU - Kleban, Matthew
AU - Nicolis, Alberto
AU - Sigurdson, Kris
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - We compute the probability distribution for bubble collisions in an inflating false vacuum which decays by bubble nucleation. Our analysis generalizes previous work of Guth, Garriga, and Vilenkin to the case of general cosmological evolution inside the bubble, and takes into account the dynamics of the domain walls that form between the colliding bubbles. We find that incorporating these effects changes the results dramatically: the total expected number of bubble collisions in the past lightcone of a typical observer is N ∼ γV f/V i, where γ is the fastest decay rate of the false vacuum, V f is its vacuum energy, and V i is the vacuum energy during inflation inside the bubble. This number can be large in realistic models without tuning. In addition, we calculate the angular position and size distribution of the collisions on the cosmic microwave background sky, and demonstrate that the number of bubbles of observable angular size is N LS ∼ (Ω k) 1/2N, where Ω k is the curvature contribution to the total density at the time of observation. The distribution is almost exactly isotropic.
AB - We compute the probability distribution for bubble collisions in an inflating false vacuum which decays by bubble nucleation. Our analysis generalizes previous work of Guth, Garriga, and Vilenkin to the case of general cosmological evolution inside the bubble, and takes into account the dynamics of the domain walls that form between the colliding bubbles. We find that incorporating these effects changes the results dramatically: the total expected number of bubble collisions in the past lightcone of a typical observer is N ∼ γV f/V i, where γ is the fastest decay rate of the false vacuum, V f is its vacuum energy, and V i is the vacuum energy during inflation inside the bubble. This number can be large in realistic models without tuning. In addition, we calculate the angular position and size distribution of the collisions on the cosmic microwave background sky, and demonstrate that the number of bubbles of observable angular size is N LS ∼ (Ω k) 1/2N, where Ω k is the curvature contribution to the total density at the time of observation. The distribution is almost exactly isotropic.
KW - Cosmological phase transitions
KW - Initial conditions and eternal universe
KW - String theory and cosmology
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U2 - 10.1088/1475-7516/2009/08/036
DO - 10.1088/1475-7516/2009/08/036
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:70350691926
SN - 1475-7516
VL - 2009
JO - Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
JF - Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
IS - 8
M1 - 036
ER -