Dark Stars: The Explosion That Changes the Universe ⚡ экспресс
Physicists have proposed a new path for the decay of the false vacuum: the collapse of boson stars — hypothetical superdense objects made of scalar particles. Due to self-attraction forces, the field inside such a star intensifies so much that it overcomes the energy barrier, much like supercooled water instantly turning to ice upon disturbance. The star explodes as a bubble of true vacuum, triggering a phase transition on a cosmic scale. This means that even a vacuum stable against quantum tunneling can be vulnerable to 'astrophysical' processes.
The universe exists in a state of false vacuum—like water behind a dam. Behind it lies the true vacuum—an abyss with different laws. Normally, water can only seep through the pores in a thin trickle (a quantum effect), barely changing the level.
But if a dense clump appears in the lake—boson stars made of dark matter—its weight presses through the bottom. The star collapses, pressure builds, and the dam shatters. In an instant, a bubble of true vacuum bursts out and rushes in all directions at the speed of light, triggering a cosmological phase transition—the rebirth of space itself. This process requires no quantum rarities: it’s pure classical physics.
Such a catastrophe can occur anywhere in the cosmos, and its expanding bubble will alter the expansion of the Universe and fundamental constants. If it heads our way, we won’t notice its approach—and at the moment of collision, ordinary matter vanishes, and with it, all laws. Fortunately, the probability of such an event in the observable Universe is vanishingly small.
🎯 During false vacuum decay, fundamental constants like the electron mass could become different.
🎬 The idea of false vacuum decay inspired Stephen Baxter's novel "Vacuum Diagrams".