2008/10/31 by Alexander Monin, A. Monin, M.B. Voloshin +1
Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Quantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions #hep-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.79.025007
published as Phys.Rev.D79:025007,2009 · 13 pages, 2 figures
arxiv created 2008/10/31 · openalex publication_date 2009/01/15 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We consider the decay of a metastable domain wall. The transition proceeds through quantum tunneling, and we calculate in an arbitrary number of dimensions the preexponential factor multiplying the leading semiclassical exponential expression for the rate of the process. We find that the effect of the motion in transverse directions reduces to a renormalization of the tension of the edge of the wall in the semiclassical exponent. This behavior is similar to the one previously found for breaking of a metastable string. However, this simple property is generally lost for spontaneous decay of higher-dimensional branes.