Abstract
We consider the phase transition of a string with tension ε1 to a string with a smaller tension ε2 at finite temperature. For sufficiently small temperatures the transition proceeds through thermally catalyzed quantum tunneling, and we calculate in arbitrary number of dimensions the thermal catalysis factor. At ε2=0 the found formula for the decay rate also describes a breakup of a metastable string into two pieces.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 125029 |
Journal | Physical Review D - Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology |
Volume | 78 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 2 2008 |