Metastable dark energy

2016/11/22 by Ricardo G. Landim, Élcio Abdalla, Elcio Abdalla · 32 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics #Cold dark matter #Cosmology #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #Dark energy #Dark fluid #Dark matter #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Hot dark matter #Light dark matter #Metastability #Particle physics #Physics #Quantum mechanics #Scalar field dark matter #Theoretical physics #Vacuum energy #Warm dark matter #astro-ph.CO #hep-ph #hep-th

paper · pdf · open access · doi:10.1016/j.physletb.2016.11.044

published in Physics Letters B 764, 271-276 (Elsevier BV) · 15 pages, 3 figures, references added. Accepted for publication in PLB

arxiv created 2016/11/22 · openalex publication_date 2016/11/25 · arxiv updated 2016/12/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

We build a model of metastable dark energy, in which the observed vacuum energy is the value of the scalar potential at the false vacuum. The scalar potential is given by a sum of even self-interactions up to order six. The deviation from the Minkowski vacuum is due to a term suppressed by the Planck scale. The decay time of the metastable vacuum can easily accommodate a mean life time compatible with the age of the universe. The metastable dark energy is also embedded into a model with SU(2)_R symmetry. The dark energy doublet and the dark matter doublet naturally interact with each other. A three-body decay of the dark energy particle into (cold and warm) dark matter can be as long as large fraction of the age of the universe, if the mediator is massive enough, the lower bound being at intermediate energy level some orders below the grand unification scale. Such a decay shows a different form of interaction between dark matter and dark energy, and the model opens a new window to investigate the dark sector from the point-of-view of particle physics.

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