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The first statement in the article, "A false vacuum is a metastable sector of quantum field theory...," doesn't make any sense. The "sector of quantum field theory" is not, itself, metastable. The adjective "metastable" shouldn't refer to the state of a sector of the theory (unless, of course, the theory, itself, is not completely stable).
Likewise for the following statment, "... Simply put, the false vacuum is a state of a physical theory ...". The false vacuum is not the state of a theory.
69.107.143.233 16:36, 25 August 2006 (UTC) D.C. George
Dear Joke 137,
I'm not suggesting that the theory is wrong. I have no disagreement with the theory. I'm saying that the logic (the syntax) of your description (and that of Coleman and de Luccia) is wrong. It's just plain bad english. A false vacuum is not the state of a theory. It may very well be the state of the vacuum but it's not the condition of the theory, itself. English may not be your native language, in which case you will be forgiven, but Coleman's editor should have corrected this.
If I may suggest a correct way to say it: It is possible in a classical field theory for the vacuum to have two stable homogeneous ground states, ...
69.107.143.233 15:38, 7 September 2006 (UTC)D.C. George
Syntactically, the first sentence is still wrong. "A false vacuum is a metastable sector of a quantum field theory which appears to be a perturbative vacuum but is unstable to instanton effects which tunnel to a lower energy state." Isn't the metastable sector something predicted or described by the theory? The way it's written is like saying Newton's theory obeys the law of gravity (i.e. the theory falls to earth when dropped), when you really mean to say a rock that falls to earth obeys the law of gravity described by Newton's theory. I'm sure readers will get the drift, but it would make more logical sense if where corrected. - BuzzSkyline 13:07, 11 November 2006 (UTC)
This is a very interesting (to me personally, at least) topic. Any extra information, particularly about the vacuum metastability event, would be much appreciated.
Things like these make me ever regret not choosing theoretical physics as the profession. IgorSF 16:22, 4 January 2007 (UTC)
A Vacuum Metastability Event was used as a plot device in Stephen Baxter's book Manifold: Time
So if a truer vacuum has less "stuff" in it than what may be a false vacuum, is it likely that this would alter the "maximum" speed of light? Whereas things like dark energy/matter in a false vacuum could theoretically slow light down, light traveling through a true vacuum could reach a closer velocity to it's infinite potential, although by partially filling a true vacuum, it makes less of a true vacuum, thus remaining a finite (although much, much faster) speed. With the stakes on light upped, presuming that just-pre-bigbang the singularity was surrounded by true vacuum, matter could also conceivably move faster... right? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.146.22.19 ( talk) 03:36, 4 February 2008 (UTC)
You miss one fine detail. Matter may or may not exist inside of the catastrophic event. Indeed, it may and probably WOULD cease to exist as we know it, as the ENTIRE rules of the universe may well be different in substantially enough ways that what we know of as matter, life and universe would not exist. Hence, OUR definition of light speed won't exist there, replaced by the lower energy level light speed variable. MEANWHILE, inside of OUR universe, our rules hold true until the "event horizon" arrives and rudely displaces the rules of the universe. Your flaw in thinking is of thinking of energy in ONE form, versus the reality of MANY forms energy may take. In classical physics, one has potential energy and kinetic energy. That extends quite a lot down to quantum levels, as even a radionuclide shows potential energy, to be released upon decay into kinetic energy of particles and in some cases, photons. The error is in considering one can jump multiple states in the same physical laws environment, which is not true, hence the FTL concept is specious. Hope that clarified, rather than muddied the waters... Wzrd1 ( talk) 05:31, 5 August 2011 (UTC)
So a false vacuum is a lower energy vacuum than our current energy vacuum?
How would that destroy us again? I'm sorry for being stupid. Seriously, it is frustrating for me as well (my stupidity). 68.143.88.2 ( talk) 21:03, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
But the tunnelling is crucial to why the false vacuum hypothesis is so lethal. Otherwise we would be happy knowing that the energy just isn't there to make a seed of ground-state vacuum (cf the water would remain supercooled forever). But quantum mechanical process mean that everything has to happen eventually... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.27.55.215 ( talk) 11:05, 7 May 2012 (UTC)
Since there is an article on "false vacuum", how about an article on "true vacuum"? easonrevant 22:18 EST, 10 May 2008 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 18.244.5.122 ( talk) 02:20, 11 May 2008 (UTC)
What *IS* true vacuum? Since the false vacuum is theoretical, the "true vacuum" would be even MORE hypothetical, as we have zero knowledge of what the true vacuum state is. Hence, a true vacuum theory is utterly impossible, as no possible measurements COULD be conceived in THIS universe. Wzrd1 ( talk) 05:33, 5 August 2011 (UTC)
The "Many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics" seems nonsensical to me. The same 'argument' could be used to argue against all catastrophic events. Is there a particular paper that someone is quoting in garbled form here? Sigfpe ( talk) 15:45, 25 July 2008 (UTC)
Indeed, one could explain CP violation easily, as a false vacuum state COULD account for a "preference" for one matter over another (matter vs antimatter). Or, as a different example, along the lines of Sigfpe's lines, "Gravity doesn't make sense to me. Indeed, it's nonsensical, as it seems higher to me in the morning than the evening." It's purely subjective. Wzrd1 ( talk) 05:39, 5 August 2011 (UTC)
I was trying to explain this to myself, and then maybe if I got a handle of it, someone else. I was trying to find a suitable pop culture reference to make an analogy. I thought of Donnie Darco (Spoiler alert, paragraph 3). Is that a good fit for an analogy? Iflipti
I just thought of another one. The episode of Star Trek The Next Generation called "Remember Me" where Dr. Beverly Crusher becomes trapped in an alternate universe confined by a shrinking warp field. As the field shrinks the alternate universe destabilizes and people, planets and memories disappear until she finally realizes what is happening and escapes just before the alternate universe implodes. In Darco's case, nothing disappears, but certain benchmarks are met that outline a convergence of events.
In both of these cases, the "host universe" is an unstable alternate universe with a ticking clock, and a sense of deflation or pressure differential. In Darco's case the alternate universe is destined to end after about a month, and in Crusher's case a matter of a few days. Does this work?
A few editorial issues:
Please remember that Wikipedia is a public-use encyclopedia and therefore should always include every-day-language descriptions in parallel to technical descriptions. Lets remember that it's bad manners to only use tech-speak when non-scientists are also a part of the audience.
'Technical' banner added until corrections are made (techno-science language may remain in the article, but must also have a parallel writing track that non-scientists can follow, where possible).
Remember also that scientists (ultimately) get their grant money from the public, so it's good practice to learn how to explain science concepts to the public.
173.246.35.182 ( talk) 21:31, 2 April 2011 (UTC)
So, regrettably, it HAS to be highly technical. I'm one of those poor SOB's that is beyond lousy at basic mathematics, but my building of mental models of that which is expressed by mathematics is unable to be explained by those gifted with arithmetic abilities. Wzrd1 ( talk) 05:45, 5 August 2011 (UTC)
In other words, don't dumb it down, but drop it to something like a collegiate level rather than a quantum-physicist level. 64.189.134.154 ( talk) 22:19, 12 September 2011 (UTC)
Has Vacuum genesis something to do with this article? -- Dia^ ( talk) 12:59, 18 August 2011 (UTC)
Is it theoretically possible in quantum field theory to imagine a "super vacuum" that would not even contain space and time ? 23:57, 14 September 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.128.117.147 ( talk)
"[our universe] could cease to exist as we know it, if a true vacuum happened to nucleate"
How is a bubble expanding at the speed of light going to wipe out our entire universe when the universe is expanding at much greater speeds? Doubledork ( talk) 01:32, 17 March 2013 (UTC)
Strange, I thought that the universe, with the assistance of gravity, was, to our point of view, expanding faster than the speed of light as it is impossible for us to reach the edge of the universe. -Anon
I have deleted and re-written the introduction. What was previously written was pseudoscience. (It wasn't just inaccurate, the whole thing was meaningless nonsense.)
Could whoever keeps filling the introduction with a large amount of their own original research (which disagrees with the scientific consensus) please stop doing so. Wikipedia is not for original research that you're unable to get published anywere else. Use viXra.org for that. What you write isn't even related to false vacuum and the animation provided whilst very pretty is also unrelated to false vacuums. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.251.253.147 ( talk) 13:27, 11 February 2015 (UTC)
The word "instanton" needs to be removed from this article in every instance. The key concept is "domain wall", not an instanton. An instanton is not an extended object, but is a point in both space and time, whereas the domain wall is three-dimensional in its bulk. The intuition is borrowed from QM, where the tunneling event IS an instanton for a double well potential, but in the case of higher dimensions the objects become domain walls. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tin2019 ( talk • contribs) 12:48, 11 May 2015 (UTC)
The vacuum of space is, by our definition, a region with a pressure of 0 Pa. Let's consider pressure as a relative quantity, not an absolute quantity. If we assume that outer space is a false vacuum, with a pressure of 0 Pa, then a true vacuum has a pressure of less than 0 Pa (relatively speaking). Currently, there is a pressure gradient directed away from Earth that is trying to suck the atmosphere off the planet. However, our planet's gravity prevents that from happening. Am I correct in saying that true vacuums are described as being destructive because if outer space became a true vacuum, the new pressure gradient would be too strong for our planet's gravity to resist, thus sucking the atmosphere into space? And, more than that, too strong for the planet's solid material to remain bound together by gravity, thus obliterating Earth?
If this is not the case, why exactly is a true vacuum destructive? (Keep it simple, so that we can update the article for the benefit of the general public.)
Or does this have absolutely nothing to do with the vacuum of space? If so, why is the term "vacuum" used, rather than "state"? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.218.66.193 ( talk) 04:01, 23 August 2016 (UTC)
The article previously linked in the "See also" section to Schild's Ladder (the novel). False vacuum is the focus of the novel, and so clearly relates to the article. This link had remained undisputed since its insertion up to 24 October 2016, when it was edited by Lilac Soul ( talk · contribs) to point to Schild's ladder (the theory). I have been unable to find any sources whatsoever that relate Schild's ladder (the theory) to false vacuum, however my edit to restore the Schild's Ladder link has been reverted by Wokswokswoks ( talk · contribs). I seek consensus to restore the link to Schild's Ladder. RunasSudo ( talk) 03:10, 26 October 2016 (UTC)
Just do it already then - how on earth can you waste your time on this?
There seems to be a ridiculous amount of flagged issues on this page that don't have any reason. For a very clear example "A vacuum or vacuum state is defined as a space with as little energy in it as possible.[clarification needed]"
I cannot at all for the life of me figure out what clarification is needed here, this could not be more clear. If however somehow this isn't clear enough, clearly explaining what a vacuum is should be done on the vacuum page which is linked. The sentence alone is 100% clear, however even if it wasn't the link is where it should be clarified, not here.
This is the case for nearly every single flagged issue on this article, of which there are a ridiculous amount. 77.98.22.147 ( talk) 02:44, 3 July 2017 (UTC)
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I think, File:Vacuumsimple.png is borderline pseudoscientific (especially at the end) and not as simple-explanatory as it may seem to somebody. Maybe it should not be used in the article. 136.169.232.53 ( talk) 13:51, 22 November 2017 (UTC)
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This phrase makes no sense and doesn't appear in the literature, as far as I can see. I highly suspect it originated on Wikipedia and has been parroted on forums and pop-sci articles. I've replaced it with "vacuum decay". — dukwon ( talk) ( contribs) 05:39, 5 April 2018 (UTC)
Since it appears that we've made some progress on the measurement of Higgs boson and Top quark mass over the last six years, the diagram needs updating. Or maybe the entire idea got debunked? Either way, the section "Stability and instability of the vacuum" appears to be out of date. 09:45, 23 August 2019 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by MatLieskovsky ( talk • contribs)
This section needs to be rewritten. It's incomprehensible in places and generally poorly written throughout. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2605:6000:1515:83A2:F53F:7493:F8D6:AA60 ( talk) 18:29, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
The problems above are mostly fixed now a.f.a.i.k.
Remaining problems
1) Instantons or domain walls while describing bubble/bounce tunnelling to expanding state?
2) Poor coverage on physics after Higgs vacuum decay
3) No adequate explanation if domain wall have "kinetic energy" - seems mechanism how such "kinetic energy" could be measured do not exist?
Trurle ( talk) 12:35, 19 February 2020 (UTC)
It would appear that the content under "True vacuum bubble nucleation" was written by a physicist not fluent in English. Phrasing such as "Perhaps the unknown constant A is so high that bubble large enough to have barrier vanished has never yet been formed anywhere in the universe." It needs the attention of an English-fluent physicist. It appears from the comments above that that it might be a good thing for the whole article. SkoreKeep ( talk) 17:48, 13 May 2020 (UTC)
If anything it should be the other way around 64.121.1.13 ( talk) 20:32, 21 March 2021 (UTC)
The source https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21929333-200-death-by-higgs-rids-cosmos-of-space-brain-threat/ seems not to be reputable:
1. It cites nothing.
2. More importantly, other sources in the net give very much bigger numbers of years for this event (= smaller probabilities).
Something is severely wrong here!
-- VictorPorton ( talk) 05:41, 10 June 2021 (UTC)
I was partially wrong above:
References
Where some believe that the universe is an artifact of mind; others that mind is an emergent property of the universe...
The Coleman/De Luccia quote
"The second special case is decay into a space of vanishing cosmological constant, the case that applies if we are now living in the debris of a false vacuum which decayed at some early cosmic epoch. This case presents us with less interesting physics and with fewer occasions for rhetorical excess than the preceding one."
is reminiscent of a parallel proposition from Douglas Adams:
“There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. "There is another theory which states that this has already happened.”
And perhaps we exist in some superposition anyway:
Zhuang Zhou dreamed as a butterfly - flying free, knowing no other. Awakening, found himself human. Now: am I Zhuang Zhou, who dreamt he was a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming I am Zhuang Zhou?
Hello, I removed the entry for Leviathan Falls including false vacuum decay from the "in fiction" section. The concept is mentioned once, and does not play a role in the plot, while the beginning of the section implies that if a work of fiction is included, false vacuum decay plays a substantial role. I would also suggest that the section be revised to include how false vacuum decay is relevant/included in the plot of the work of fiction; however, I have not read any of the other works of fiction so I cannot make this revision.
Plumeria03 ( talk) 19:27, 5 January 2022 (UTC)
The very first sentence states that a false vacuum is stable; the second paragraph says that it is not stable. I presume this is because of different definitions of "stable", but can it at least be made to read consistently? W. P. Uzer ( talk) 17:06, 22 October 2022 (UTC)
Would a physicist please answer this? If the bubble of true vacuum expands at the speed of light, is it confined to the cosmological horizon in which it started? Can it spread from outside our observable universe into our observable universe? I also read that if the false vacuum decays after a certain number of billion years, it can't expand fast enough to destroy the whole universe. But I can't recall anything else -- where I read that, what the listed time limit was, or whether it referred to the whole universe or just our observable universe. If anyone knows for sure, please tell. 2601:441:5000:ADF0:E58D:1293:89B:67B0 ( talk) 18:46, 1 August 2023 (UTC)
I reverted the undiscussed move from False vacuum to False vacuum decay by now-banned User:Oranjelo100. Both titles are correct, but the original is more concise, and agrees better with the first sentence. Jähmefyysikko ( talk) 08:01, 14 December 2023 (UTC)
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The first statement in the article, "A false vacuum is a metastable sector of quantum field theory...," doesn't make any sense. The "sector of quantum field theory" is not, itself, metastable. The adjective "metastable" shouldn't refer to the state of a sector of the theory (unless, of course, the theory, itself, is not completely stable).
Likewise for the following statment, "... Simply put, the false vacuum is a state of a physical theory ...". The false vacuum is not the state of a theory.
69.107.143.233 16:36, 25 August 2006 (UTC) D.C. George
Dear Joke 137,
I'm not suggesting that the theory is wrong. I have no disagreement with the theory. I'm saying that the logic (the syntax) of your description (and that of Coleman and de Luccia) is wrong. It's just plain bad english. A false vacuum is not the state of a theory. It may very well be the state of the vacuum but it's not the condition of the theory, itself. English may not be your native language, in which case you will be forgiven, but Coleman's editor should have corrected this.
If I may suggest a correct way to say it: It is possible in a classical field theory for the vacuum to have two stable homogeneous ground states, ...
69.107.143.233 15:38, 7 September 2006 (UTC)D.C. George
Syntactically, the first sentence is still wrong. "A false vacuum is a metastable sector of a quantum field theory which appears to be a perturbative vacuum but is unstable to instanton effects which tunnel to a lower energy state." Isn't the metastable sector something predicted or described by the theory? The way it's written is like saying Newton's theory obeys the law of gravity (i.e. the theory falls to earth when dropped), when you really mean to say a rock that falls to earth obeys the law of gravity described by Newton's theory. I'm sure readers will get the drift, but it would make more logical sense if where corrected. - BuzzSkyline 13:07, 11 November 2006 (UTC)
This is a very interesting (to me personally, at least) topic. Any extra information, particularly about the vacuum metastability event, would be much appreciated.
Things like these make me ever regret not choosing theoretical physics as the profession. IgorSF 16:22, 4 January 2007 (UTC)
A Vacuum Metastability Event was used as a plot device in Stephen Baxter's book Manifold: Time
So if a truer vacuum has less "stuff" in it than what may be a false vacuum, is it likely that this would alter the "maximum" speed of light? Whereas things like dark energy/matter in a false vacuum could theoretically slow light down, light traveling through a true vacuum could reach a closer velocity to it's infinite potential, although by partially filling a true vacuum, it makes less of a true vacuum, thus remaining a finite (although much, much faster) speed. With the stakes on light upped, presuming that just-pre-bigbang the singularity was surrounded by true vacuum, matter could also conceivably move faster... right? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.146.22.19 ( talk) 03:36, 4 February 2008 (UTC)
You miss one fine detail. Matter may or may not exist inside of the catastrophic event. Indeed, it may and probably WOULD cease to exist as we know it, as the ENTIRE rules of the universe may well be different in substantially enough ways that what we know of as matter, life and universe would not exist. Hence, OUR definition of light speed won't exist there, replaced by the lower energy level light speed variable. MEANWHILE, inside of OUR universe, our rules hold true until the "event horizon" arrives and rudely displaces the rules of the universe. Your flaw in thinking is of thinking of energy in ONE form, versus the reality of MANY forms energy may take. In classical physics, one has potential energy and kinetic energy. That extends quite a lot down to quantum levels, as even a radionuclide shows potential energy, to be released upon decay into kinetic energy of particles and in some cases, photons. The error is in considering one can jump multiple states in the same physical laws environment, which is not true, hence the FTL concept is specious. Hope that clarified, rather than muddied the waters... Wzrd1 ( talk) 05:31, 5 August 2011 (UTC)
So a false vacuum is a lower energy vacuum than our current energy vacuum?
How would that destroy us again? I'm sorry for being stupid. Seriously, it is frustrating for me as well (my stupidity). 68.143.88.2 ( talk) 21:03, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
But the tunnelling is crucial to why the false vacuum hypothesis is so lethal. Otherwise we would be happy knowing that the energy just isn't there to make a seed of ground-state vacuum (cf the water would remain supercooled forever). But quantum mechanical process mean that everything has to happen eventually... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.27.55.215 ( talk) 11:05, 7 May 2012 (UTC)
Since there is an article on "false vacuum", how about an article on "true vacuum"? easonrevant 22:18 EST, 10 May 2008 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 18.244.5.122 ( talk) 02:20, 11 May 2008 (UTC)
What *IS* true vacuum? Since the false vacuum is theoretical, the "true vacuum" would be even MORE hypothetical, as we have zero knowledge of what the true vacuum state is. Hence, a true vacuum theory is utterly impossible, as no possible measurements COULD be conceived in THIS universe. Wzrd1 ( talk) 05:33, 5 August 2011 (UTC)
The "Many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics" seems nonsensical to me. The same 'argument' could be used to argue against all catastrophic events. Is there a particular paper that someone is quoting in garbled form here? Sigfpe ( talk) 15:45, 25 July 2008 (UTC)
Indeed, one could explain CP violation easily, as a false vacuum state COULD account for a "preference" for one matter over another (matter vs antimatter). Or, as a different example, along the lines of Sigfpe's lines, "Gravity doesn't make sense to me. Indeed, it's nonsensical, as it seems higher to me in the morning than the evening." It's purely subjective. Wzrd1 ( talk) 05:39, 5 August 2011 (UTC)
I was trying to explain this to myself, and then maybe if I got a handle of it, someone else. I was trying to find a suitable pop culture reference to make an analogy. I thought of Donnie Darco (Spoiler alert, paragraph 3). Is that a good fit for an analogy? Iflipti
I just thought of another one. The episode of Star Trek The Next Generation called "Remember Me" where Dr. Beverly Crusher becomes trapped in an alternate universe confined by a shrinking warp field. As the field shrinks the alternate universe destabilizes and people, planets and memories disappear until she finally realizes what is happening and escapes just before the alternate universe implodes. In Darco's case, nothing disappears, but certain benchmarks are met that outline a convergence of events.
In both of these cases, the "host universe" is an unstable alternate universe with a ticking clock, and a sense of deflation or pressure differential. In Darco's case the alternate universe is destined to end after about a month, and in Crusher's case a matter of a few days. Does this work?
A few editorial issues:
Please remember that Wikipedia is a public-use encyclopedia and therefore should always include every-day-language descriptions in parallel to technical descriptions. Lets remember that it's bad manners to only use tech-speak when non-scientists are also a part of the audience.
'Technical' banner added until corrections are made (techno-science language may remain in the article, but must also have a parallel writing track that non-scientists can follow, where possible).
Remember also that scientists (ultimately) get their grant money from the public, so it's good practice to learn how to explain science concepts to the public.
173.246.35.182 ( talk) 21:31, 2 April 2011 (UTC)
So, regrettably, it HAS to be highly technical. I'm one of those poor SOB's that is beyond lousy at basic mathematics, but my building of mental models of that which is expressed by mathematics is unable to be explained by those gifted with arithmetic abilities. Wzrd1 ( talk) 05:45, 5 August 2011 (UTC)
In other words, don't dumb it down, but drop it to something like a collegiate level rather than a quantum-physicist level. 64.189.134.154 ( talk) 22:19, 12 September 2011 (UTC)
Has Vacuum genesis something to do with this article? -- Dia^ ( talk) 12:59, 18 August 2011 (UTC)
Is it theoretically possible in quantum field theory to imagine a "super vacuum" that would not even contain space and time ? 23:57, 14 September 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.128.117.147 ( talk)
"[our universe] could cease to exist as we know it, if a true vacuum happened to nucleate"
How is a bubble expanding at the speed of light going to wipe out our entire universe when the universe is expanding at much greater speeds? Doubledork ( talk) 01:32, 17 March 2013 (UTC)
Strange, I thought that the universe, with the assistance of gravity, was, to our point of view, expanding faster than the speed of light as it is impossible for us to reach the edge of the universe. -Anon
I have deleted and re-written the introduction. What was previously written was pseudoscience. (It wasn't just inaccurate, the whole thing was meaningless nonsense.)
Could whoever keeps filling the introduction with a large amount of their own original research (which disagrees with the scientific consensus) please stop doing so. Wikipedia is not for original research that you're unable to get published anywere else. Use viXra.org for that. What you write isn't even related to false vacuum and the animation provided whilst very pretty is also unrelated to false vacuums. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.251.253.147 ( talk) 13:27, 11 February 2015 (UTC)
The word "instanton" needs to be removed from this article in every instance. The key concept is "domain wall", not an instanton. An instanton is not an extended object, but is a point in both space and time, whereas the domain wall is three-dimensional in its bulk. The intuition is borrowed from QM, where the tunneling event IS an instanton for a double well potential, but in the case of higher dimensions the objects become domain walls. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tin2019 ( talk • contribs) 12:48, 11 May 2015 (UTC)
The vacuum of space is, by our definition, a region with a pressure of 0 Pa. Let's consider pressure as a relative quantity, not an absolute quantity. If we assume that outer space is a false vacuum, with a pressure of 0 Pa, then a true vacuum has a pressure of less than 0 Pa (relatively speaking). Currently, there is a pressure gradient directed away from Earth that is trying to suck the atmosphere off the planet. However, our planet's gravity prevents that from happening. Am I correct in saying that true vacuums are described as being destructive because if outer space became a true vacuum, the new pressure gradient would be too strong for our planet's gravity to resist, thus sucking the atmosphere into space? And, more than that, too strong for the planet's solid material to remain bound together by gravity, thus obliterating Earth?
If this is not the case, why exactly is a true vacuum destructive? (Keep it simple, so that we can update the article for the benefit of the general public.)
Or does this have absolutely nothing to do with the vacuum of space? If so, why is the term "vacuum" used, rather than "state"? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.218.66.193 ( talk) 04:01, 23 August 2016 (UTC)
The article previously linked in the "See also" section to Schild's Ladder (the novel). False vacuum is the focus of the novel, and so clearly relates to the article. This link had remained undisputed since its insertion up to 24 October 2016, when it was edited by Lilac Soul ( talk · contribs) to point to Schild's ladder (the theory). I have been unable to find any sources whatsoever that relate Schild's ladder (the theory) to false vacuum, however my edit to restore the Schild's Ladder link has been reverted by Wokswokswoks ( talk · contribs). I seek consensus to restore the link to Schild's Ladder. RunasSudo ( talk) 03:10, 26 October 2016 (UTC)
Just do it already then - how on earth can you waste your time on this?
There seems to be a ridiculous amount of flagged issues on this page that don't have any reason. For a very clear example "A vacuum or vacuum state is defined as a space with as little energy in it as possible.[clarification needed]"
I cannot at all for the life of me figure out what clarification is needed here, this could not be more clear. If however somehow this isn't clear enough, clearly explaining what a vacuum is should be done on the vacuum page which is linked. The sentence alone is 100% clear, however even if it wasn't the link is where it should be clarified, not here.
This is the case for nearly every single flagged issue on this article, of which there are a ridiculous amount. 77.98.22.147 ( talk) 02:44, 3 July 2017 (UTC)
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I think, File:Vacuumsimple.png is borderline pseudoscientific (especially at the end) and not as simple-explanatory as it may seem to somebody. Maybe it should not be used in the article. 136.169.232.53 ( talk) 13:51, 22 November 2017 (UTC)
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This phrase makes no sense and doesn't appear in the literature, as far as I can see. I highly suspect it originated on Wikipedia and has been parroted on forums and pop-sci articles. I've replaced it with "vacuum decay". — dukwon ( talk) ( contribs) 05:39, 5 April 2018 (UTC)
Since it appears that we've made some progress on the measurement of Higgs boson and Top quark mass over the last six years, the diagram needs updating. Or maybe the entire idea got debunked? Either way, the section "Stability and instability of the vacuum" appears to be out of date. 09:45, 23 August 2019 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by MatLieskovsky ( talk • contribs)
This section needs to be rewritten. It's incomprehensible in places and generally poorly written throughout. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2605:6000:1515:83A2:F53F:7493:F8D6:AA60 ( talk) 18:29, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
The problems above are mostly fixed now a.f.a.i.k.
Remaining problems
1) Instantons or domain walls while describing bubble/bounce tunnelling to expanding state?
2) Poor coverage on physics after Higgs vacuum decay
3) No adequate explanation if domain wall have "kinetic energy" - seems mechanism how such "kinetic energy" could be measured do not exist?
Trurle ( talk) 12:35, 19 February 2020 (UTC)
It would appear that the content under "True vacuum bubble nucleation" was written by a physicist not fluent in English. Phrasing such as "Perhaps the unknown constant A is so high that bubble large enough to have barrier vanished has never yet been formed anywhere in the universe." It needs the attention of an English-fluent physicist. It appears from the comments above that that it might be a good thing for the whole article. SkoreKeep ( talk) 17:48, 13 May 2020 (UTC)
If anything it should be the other way around 64.121.1.13 ( talk) 20:32, 21 March 2021 (UTC)
The source https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21929333-200-death-by-higgs-rids-cosmos-of-space-brain-threat/ seems not to be reputable:
1. It cites nothing.
2. More importantly, other sources in the net give very much bigger numbers of years for this event (= smaller probabilities).
Something is severely wrong here!
-- VictorPorton ( talk) 05:41, 10 June 2021 (UTC)
I was partially wrong above:
References
Where some believe that the universe is an artifact of mind; others that mind is an emergent property of the universe...
The Coleman/De Luccia quote
"The second special case is decay into a space of vanishing cosmological constant, the case that applies if we are now living in the debris of a false vacuum which decayed at some early cosmic epoch. This case presents us with less interesting physics and with fewer occasions for rhetorical excess than the preceding one."
is reminiscent of a parallel proposition from Douglas Adams:
“There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. "There is another theory which states that this has already happened.”
And perhaps we exist in some superposition anyway:
Zhuang Zhou dreamed as a butterfly - flying free, knowing no other. Awakening, found himself human. Now: am I Zhuang Zhou, who dreamt he was a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming I am Zhuang Zhou?
Hello, I removed the entry for Leviathan Falls including false vacuum decay from the "in fiction" section. The concept is mentioned once, and does not play a role in the plot, while the beginning of the section implies that if a work of fiction is included, false vacuum decay plays a substantial role. I would also suggest that the section be revised to include how false vacuum decay is relevant/included in the plot of the work of fiction; however, I have not read any of the other works of fiction so I cannot make this revision.
Plumeria03 ( talk) 19:27, 5 January 2022 (UTC)
The very first sentence states that a false vacuum is stable; the second paragraph says that it is not stable. I presume this is because of different definitions of "stable", but can it at least be made to read consistently? W. P. Uzer ( talk) 17:06, 22 October 2022 (UTC)
Would a physicist please answer this? If the bubble of true vacuum expands at the speed of light, is it confined to the cosmological horizon in which it started? Can it spread from outside our observable universe into our observable universe? I also read that if the false vacuum decays after a certain number of billion years, it can't expand fast enough to destroy the whole universe. But I can't recall anything else -- where I read that, what the listed time limit was, or whether it referred to the whole universe or just our observable universe. If anyone knows for sure, please tell. 2601:441:5000:ADF0:E58D:1293:89B:67B0 ( talk) 18:46, 1 August 2023 (UTC)
I reverted the undiscussed move from False vacuum to False vacuum decay by now-banned User:Oranjelo100. Both titles are correct, but the original is more concise, and agrees better with the first sentence. Jähmefyysikko ( talk) 08:01, 14 December 2023 (UTC)