Physicists: Decoherence May Protect the Universe From False Vacuum Decay

A study in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics suggests decoherence and the quantum Zeno effect can lock a quantum field into a local minimum, making false vacuum decay less likely. The authors caution the model is simplified and does not fully rule out the catastrophic scenario.

• False vacuum decay would create a bubble expanding at nearly the speed of light
• Decoherence prevents the field from tunneling into the true vacuum state
• The quantum Zeno effect keeps the system locked in a local minimum
• The model omits a changing expansion rate and the field's effect on gravity