1210.7181 (Michael P. Salem)

Multiverse rate equation including bubble collisions    [PDF]

Michael P. Salem

The volume fractions of vacua in an eternally inflating multiverse are described by a coarse-grain rate equation, which accounts for volume expansion and vacuum transitions via bubble formation. We generalize the rate equation to account for bubble collisions, including the possibility of classical transitions. Classical transitions increase the connectedness of the landscape---with possible implications for the so-called staggering issue---however the basic intuition developed in prior literature for understanding the aforementioned volume fractions is easily updated to account for the effects. Whether or not our vacuum is likely to have been established by a classical transition depends on the detailed relationships among transition rates in the landscape.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1210.7181