Bubbles Of Nothing Research Articles

The bubble of nothing under T-duality

The bubble of nothing is a solution to Einstein’s equations where a circle shrinks and pinches off smoothly. As such, it is one of the simplest examples of a dynamical cobordism to nothing. We take a first step in studying how this solution transforms under T-duality in bosonic string theory. Applying Buscher’s rules reveals that the dual solution features a singular, strongly coupled core, with a circle blowing-up rather than pinching off. This naive approach to T-duality solely accounts for the zero-modes of the fields after dimensional reduction on the circle. For this reason, we argue that this is not the full picture that the T-dual solution should depend non-trivially on the dual circle. We point out evidence to this effect both in the gravity description and on the worldsheet. A more complete description of the T-dual object would require a full-fledged sigma model for the bubble of nothing. Nevertheless, inspired by similar examples in the literature, we detail one possible scenario where the stringy bubble of nothing is mediated by closed string tachyon condensation and we discuss its T-duality.

Tunneling potentials to nothing

The catastrophic decay of a spacetime with compact dimensions, via bubbles of nothing (BoNs), is probably a generic phenomenon. BoNs admit a four-dimensional description as singular Coleman–de Luccia bounces of the size modulus field, stabilized by some potential V(ϕ). We apply the tunneling potential approach to this 4D description to provide a very simple picture of BoNs. Using it, we identify four different types of BoN, corresponding to different classes of higher-dimensional theories. We also identify 4D theories featuring a new type of quenching of BoN decay, which may be present even for dS vacua, and discuss the viability of embedding such models in a higher-dimensional theory. The present approach allows us to treat in a single framework BoN nucleation and other decay channels, and we study the interplay between the different nonperturbative instabilities comparing their decay rates. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Intersecting end of the world branes

Dynamical cobordisms implement the swampland cobordism conjecture in the framework of effective field theory, realizing codimension-1 end of the world (ETW) branes as singularities at finite spacetime distance at which scalars diverge to infinite field space distance. ETW brane solutions provide a useful probe of infinity in moduli/field spaces and the associated swampland constraints, such as the distance conjecture.We construct explicit solutions describing intersecting ETW branes in theories with multiple scalars and general potentials, so that different infinite field space limits coexist in the same spacetime, and can be simultaneously probed by paths approaching the ETW brane intersection. Our class of solutions includes physically interesting examples, such as intersections of Witten’s bubbles of nothing in toroidal compactifications, generalizations in compactifications on products of spheres, and possible flux dressings thereof (hence including charged objects at the ETW branes). From the cobordism perspective, the intersections can be regarded as describing the end of the world for end of the world branes, or as boundary domain walls interpolating between different ETW brane boundary conditions for the same bulk theory.

Bubbles of nothing:the tunneling potential approach

Bubbles of nothing (BoNs) describe the decay of spacetimes with compact dimensions and are thus of fundamental importance for many higher dimensional theories proposed beyond the Standard Model. BoNs admit a 4-dimensional description in terms of a singular Coleman-de Luccia (CdL) instanton involving the size modulus field, stabilized by some potential V(ϕ). Using the so-called tunneling potential (Vt ) approach, we study which types of BoNs are possible and for which potentials V(ϕ) can they be present. We identify four different types of BoN, characterized by different asymptotic behaviours at the BoN core and corresponding to different classes of higher dimensional theories, which we also classify. Combining numerous analytical and numerical examples, we study the interplay of BoN decays with other standard decay channels, identify the possible types of quenching of BoN decays and show how BoNs for flux compactifications can also be described in 4 dimensions by a multifield Vt . The use of the Vt approach greatly aids our analyses and offers a very simple picture of BoNs which are treated in the same language as any other standard vacuum decays.

Neutralizing topological obstructions to bubbles of nothing

Theories with compact extra dimensions can exhibit a vacuum instability known as a bubble of nothing. These decay modes can be obstructed if the internal manifold is stabilized by fluxes, or if it carries Wilson lines for background gauge fields, or if the instanton is incompatible with the spin structure. In each of these cases the decay can proceed by adding dynamical charged membranes or gauge fields. We give a general, bottom-up procedure for constructing approximate bubble of nothing solutions in models with internal spheres stabilized by flux and study the influence of the brane tension on the tunneling exponent, finding two branches of solutions that merge at a minimal superextremal value of the tension. In the case of Wilson operators and incompatible fermions, the relevant bubble is shown to be the Euclidean Reissner-Nordstrom black hole, and the ordinary decay exponent is modified by 1/g2 effects. We examine the Dirac operator on this background and comment on the relevance for models of supergravity with gauged R-symmetry.

Black lens in a bubble of nothing

Applying the inverse scattering method to static and biaxisymmetric Einstein equations, we construct a nonrotating black lens inside a bubble of nothing whose horizon is topologically lens space, $L(n,1)={S}^{3}/{\mathbb{Z}}_{n}$. Using this solution, we discuss whether a static black lens can be in equilibrium by the force balance between the expansion and gravitational attraction.

Bubbles of nothing in binary black holes and black rings, and viceversa

We argue that expanding bubbles of nothing are a widespread feature of systems of black holes with multiple or non-spherical horizons, appearing as a limit of regions that are narrowly enclosed by the horizons. The bubble is a minimal cycle that links the Einstein-Rosen bridges in the system, and its expansion occurs through the familiar stretching of space in black hole interiors. We demonstrate this idea (which does not involve any Wick rotations) with explicit constructions in four and five dimensions. The geometries of expanding bubbles in these dimensions arise as a limit of, respectively, static black hole binaries and black rings. The limit is such that the separation between the two black holes, or the inner hole of the black ring, becomes very small, and the horizons of the black holes correspond to acceleration horizons of the bubbles. We also explain how a five-dimensional black hole binary gives rise to a different type of expanding bubble. We then show that bubble spacetimes can host black hole binaries and black rings in static equilibrium, with their gravitational attraction being balanced against the background spacetime expansion. Similar constructions are expected in six or more dimensions, but most of these solutions can be obtained only numerically. Finally, we argue that the Nariai solution can be regarded as containing an expanding circular bubble of nothing.

Wormholes with a warped extra dimension?

We investigate the role of a specifically warped extra dimension in constructing examples of higher dimensional spacetimes representing Lorentzian wormholes. The warping chosen is largely inspired by the well-known non-static Witten bubble of nothing, though our spacetimes are static and geometrically different. Vacuum solutions in $D\geq 5$ dimensions and others (non-asymptotically flat) with `perfectly normal' matter stress energy are interpreted as possible Lorentzian wormholes. Asymptotically flat wormholes in $D\geq 5$ with `exotic matter' and within this class of spacetimes also appear to exist in all dimensions. A wormhole-black hole correspondence via double Wick rotation is revisited and discussed. Finally, geodesic motion as well as the behaviour of geodesic congruences, in the sub-class of five dimensional, warped, vacuum wormhole spacetimes is also briefly analysed, with the aim of obtaining characteristic properties and specific signatures which may help improve our understanding of these geometries.

At the end of the world: Local Dynamical Cobordism

The Cobordism Conjecture states that any Quantum Gravity configuration admits, at topological level, a boundary ending spacetime. We study the dynamical realization of cobordism, as spacetime dependent solutions of Einstein gravity coupled to scalars containing such end-of-the-world ‘branes’. The latter appear in effective theory as a singularity at finite spacetime distance at which scalars go off to infinite field space distance. We provide a local description near the end-of-the-world branes, in which the solutions simplify dramatically and are characterized in terms of a critical exponent, which controls the asymptotic profiles of fields and the universal scaling relations among the spacetime distance to the singularity, the field space distance, and the spacetime curvature. The analysis does not rely on supersymmetry. We study many explicit examples of such Local Dynamical Cobordisms in string theory, including 10d massive IIA, the 10d non-supersymmetric USp(32) theory, Bubbles of Nothing, 4d \U0001d4a9 = 1 cosmic string solutions, the Klebanov-Strassler throat, Dp-brane solutions, brane configurations related to the D1/D5 systems, and small black holes. Our framework encompasses diverse recent setups in which scalars diverge at the core of defects, by regarding them as suitable end-of-the-world branes. We explore the interplay of Local Dynamical Cobordisms with the Distance Conjecture and other swampland constraints.

De Sitter decays to infinity

Bubbles of nothing are a class of vacuum decay processes present in some theories with compactified extra dimensions. We investigate the existence and properties of bubbles of nothing in models where the scalar pseudomoduli controlling the size of the extra dimensions are stabilized at positive vacuum energy, which is a necessary feature of any realistic model. We map the construction of bubbles of nothing to a four-dimensional Coleman-De Luccia problem and establish necessary conditions on the asymptotic behavior of the scalar potential for the existence of suitable solutions. We perform detailed analyses in the context of five-dimensional theories with metastable dS4× S1 vacua, using analytic approximations and numerical methods to calculate the decay rate. We find that bubbles of nothing sometimes exist in potentials with no ordinary Coleman-De Luccia decay process, and that in the examples we study, when both processes exist, the bubble of nothing decay rate is typically faster. Our methods can be generalized to other stabilizing potentials and internal manifolds.

Nothing is certain in string compactifications

A bubble of nothing is a spacetime instability where a compact dimension collapses. After nucleation, it expands at the speed of light, leaving “nothing” behind. We argue that the topological and dynamical mechanisms which could protect a compactification against decay to nothing seem to be absent in string compactifications once supersymmetry is broken. The topological obstruction lies in a bordism group and, surprisingly, it can disappear even for a SUSY-compatible spin structure. As a proof of principle, we construct an explicit bubble of nothing for a T3 with completely periodic (SUSY-compatible) spin structure in an Einstein dilaton Gauss-Bonnet theory, which arises in the low-energy limit of certain heterotic and type II flux compactifications. Without the topological protection, supersymmetric compactifications are purely stabilized by a Coleman-deLuccia mechanism, which relies on a certain local energy condition. This is violated in our example by the nonsupersymmetric GB term. In the presence of fluxes this energy condition gets modified and its violation might be related to the Weak Gravity Conjecture.We expect that our techniques can be used to construct a plethora of new bubbles of nothing in any setup where the low-energy bordism group vanishes, including type II compactifications on CY3, AdS flux compactifications on 5-manifolds, and M-theory on 7-manifolds. This lends further evidence to the conjecture that any non-supersymmetric vacuum of quantum gravity is ultimately unstable.

Nothing really matters

We study non-perturbative instabilities of AdS spacetime in General Relativity with a cosmological constant in arbitrary dimensions. In this simple setup we explicitly construct a class of gravitational instantons generalizing Witten’s bubble of nothing. We calculate the corresponding Euclidean action and show that its change is finite. The expansion of these bubbles is described by a lower-dimensional de Sitter geometry within a non- compact foliation of the background spacetime. Moreover we discuss the existence of covariantly constant spinors as a possible topological obstruction for such decays to occur. This mechanism is further connected to the stability of supersymmetric vacua in string theory.

Gravitational instabilities and censorship of large scalar field excursions

Large, localized variations of light scalar fields tend to collapse into black holes, dynamically “censoring” distant points in field space. We show that in some cases, large scalar excursions in asymptotically flat spacetimes can be UV-completed by smooth Kaluza-Klein bubble geometries, appearing to circumvent 4d censorship arguments. However, these spacetimes also exhibit classical instabilities related to the collapse or expansion of a bubble of nothing, providing a different censorship mechanism. We show that the Kerr family of static KK bubbles, which gives rise to an infinite scalar excursion upon dimensional reduction, is classically unstable. We construct a family of initial data in which the static bubbles sit at a local maximum of the energy, and we give a general argument that such a property indeed indicates mechanical instability in gravity. We also discuss the behavior of wound strings near a bubble, a local probe of the large traversal through moduli space.

New Kaluza-Klein instantons and the decay of AdS vacua

We construct a generalization of Witten's Kaluza-Klein instanton, where a higher-dimensional sphere (rather than a circle as in Witten's instanton) collapses to zero size and the geometry terminates at a bubble of nothing, in a low energy effective theory of M theory. We use the solution to exhibit instability of non-supersymmetric AdS_5 vacua in M Theory compactified on positive Kaehler-Einstein spaces, providing a further evidence for the recent conjecture that any non-supersymmetric anti-de Sitter vacuum supported by fluxes must be unstable.

Waves in the Witten Bubble of Nothing and the Hawking Wormhole

We investigate the propagation of the scalar waves in the Witten space-time called "bubble of nothing" and in its remarkable sub-manifold, the Lorentzian Hawking wormhole. Due to the global hyperbolicity, the global Cauchy problem is well-posed in the functional framework associated with the energy. We perform a complete spectral analysis that allows to get an explicit form of the solutions in terms of special functions. If the effective mass is non zero, the profile of the waves is asymptotically almost periodic in time. In contrast, the massless case is dispersive. We develop the scattering theory, classical as well as quantum. The quantized scattering operator leaves invariant the Fock vacuum: there is no creation of particles. The resonances can be defined in the massless case and they are purely imaginary.

Bubbles of nothing and supersymmetric compactifications

We investigate the non-perturbative stability of supersymmetric compactifications with respect to decay via a bubble of nothing. We show examples where this kind of instability is not prohibited by the spin structure, i.e., periodicity of fermions about the extra dimension. However, such ``topologically unobstructed'' cases do exhibit an extra-dimensional analog of the well-known Coleman-De Luccia suppression mechanism, which prohibits the decay of supersymmetric vacua. We demonstrate this explicitly in a four dimensional Abelian-Higgs toy model coupled to supergravity. The compactification of this model to M3 × S1 presents the possibility of vacua with different windings for the scalar field. Away from the supersymmetric limit, these states decay by the formation of a bubble of nothing, dressed with an Abelian-Higgs vortex. We show how, as one approaches the supersymmetric limit, the circumference of the topologically unobstructed bubble becomes infinite, thereby preventing the realization of this decay. This demonstrates the dynamical origin of the decay suppression, as opposed to the more familiar argument based on the spin structure. We conjecture that this is a generic mechanism that enforces stability of any topologically unobstructed supersymmetric compactification.

Long string dynamics in pure gravity on AdS3

We study the classical dynamics of a completion of pure AdS gravity in 3D, whose only degrees of freedom are boundary gravitons and long strings. We argue that the best regime for describing pure gravity is that of "heavy" strings, for which back-reaction effects on the metric must be taken into account. We show that once back-reaction is properly accounted for, regular finite-energy states are produced by heavy strings even in the infinite-tension limit. Such a process is similar to, but different from, nucleation of space out of a "bubble of nothing."

Wormhole on DGP brane

We analyze a spacetime structure on a new brane configuration constructed recently in the Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati braneworld context. The brane, embedded on a five-dimensional bubble of nothing, has a wormhole structure. It is an exact solution without any matter fields, and thus the energy conditions for matter fields are trivially satisfied. We see that, under the traversability condition, the size of the bubble should be larger than 10^{10}cm or so.

Decay of hot Kaluza-Klein space

The non-perturbative instabilities of hot Kaluza-Klein spacetime are investigated. In addition to the known instability of hot space (the nucleation of 4D black holes) and the known instability of KK space (the nucleation of bubbles of nothing by quantum tunneling), we find two new instabilities: the nucleation of 5D black holes, and the nucleation of bubbles of nothing by thermal fluctuation. These four instabilities are controlled by two Euclidean instantons, with each instanton doing double duty via two inequivalent analytic continuations; thermodynamic instabilities of one are shown to be related to mechanical instabilities of the other. I also construct bubbles of nothing that are formed by a hybrid process involving both thermal fluctuation and quantum tunneling. There is an exact high-temperature/low-temperature duality that relates the nucleation of black holes to the nucleation of bubbles of nothing.

DGP braneworld with a bubble of nothing

We construct exact solutions with the bubble of nothing in the Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati braneworld model. The configuration with a single brane can be constructed, unlike in the Randall-Sundrum braneworld model. The geometry on the single brane looks like the Einstein-Rosen bridge. We also discuss the junction of multibranes. Surprisingly, even without any artificial matter fields on the branes such as three-dimensional tension of the codimension-two objects, two branes can be connected in certain configurations. We investigate solutions of multibranes too. The presence of solutions may indicate the semiclassical instability of the models.