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Convexity, gauge-dependence and tunneling rates
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  • Regular Article - Theoretical Physics
  • Open Access
  • Published: 19 October 2016

Convexity, gauge-dependence and tunneling rates

  • Alexis D. Plascencia1 &
  • Carlos Tamarit1 

Journal of High Energy Physics volume 2016, Article number: 99 (2016) Cite this article

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  • 39 Citations

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A preprint version of the article is available at arXiv.

Abstract

We clarify issues of convexity, gauge-dependence and radiative corrections in relation to tunneling rates. Despite the gauge dependence of the effective action at zero and finite temperature, it is shown that tunneling and nucleation rates remain independent of the choice of gauge-fixing. Taking as a starting point the functional that defines the transition amplitude from a false vacuum onto itself, it is shown that decay rates are exactly determined by a non-convex, false vacuum effective action evaluated at an extremum. The latter can be viewed as a generalized bounce configuration, and gauge-independence follows from the appropriate Nielsen identities. This holds for any election of gauge-fixing that leads to an invertible Faddeev-Popov matrix.

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  1. Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology, Durham University, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, U.K.

    Alexis D. Plascencia & Carlos Tamarit

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  1. Alexis D. Plascencia
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  2. Carlos Tamarit
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Correspondence to Carlos Tamarit.

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ArXiv ePrint: 1510.07613

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Plascencia, A.D., Tamarit, C. Convexity, gauge-dependence and tunneling rates. J. High Energ. Phys. 2016, 99 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP10(2016)099

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  • Received: 11 August 2016

  • Accepted: 17 October 2016

  • Published: 19 October 2016

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP10(2016)099

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Keywords

  • Gauge Symmetry
  • Nonperturbative Effects
  • Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking
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