Mass Renormalization in Lattice Simulations of False Vacuum Decay

Understand

False vacuum decay, a quantum mechanical first-order phase transition in scalar field theories, is an important phenomenon in early universe cosmology.

• Recently, real-time semi-classical techniques based on ensembles of lattice simulations were applied to the problem of false vacuum decay.
• In this context, or any other lattice simulation, the effective potential experienced by long-wavelength modes is not the same as the bare potential.
• To make quantitative predictions using the real-time semi-classical techniques, it is therefore necessary to understand the redefinition of model parameters and the corresponding deformation of the vacuum state, as well as stochastic contributions that require modeling of unresolved subgrid modes.