Temperature-driven false-vacuum decay in coherently coupled Bose superfluids
Phys. Rev. A 113, 063323 – Published 22 June, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/w5sj-lrsx
Abstract
The relaxation of a quantum field from a metastable state (false vacuum) to a stable one (true vacuum), also known as false-vacuum decay, is a fundamental problem in quantum field theory and cosmology. We study this phenomenon using a two-dimensional interacting and coherently coupled Bose-Bose mixture, a platform that has already been employed experimentally to investigate false-vacuum decay in one dimension. In such a mixture, it is possible to define an effective magnetization that acts as a quantum field variable. Using the stochastic projected Gross-Pitaevskii equation (SPGPE), we prepare thermal equilibrium states in the false vacuum and extract decay rates from the magnetization dynamics. The decay rates show an exponential dependence on temperature, in line with the thermal theory of instantons. Since the SPGPE is based on complex scalar fields, it also allows us to explore the behavior of the phase, which turns out to become dynamic during decay. Our results confirm the SPGPE as an effective tool for studying coupled magnetization and phase dynamics and the associated instanton physics in ultracold quantum gases.
