Scalar field vacuum expectation value induced by gravitational wave background

We show that a massless scalar field in a gravitational wave background can develop a non-zero vacuum expectation value. We draw comparisons to the generation of a non-zero vacuum expectation value for a scalar field in the Higgs mechanism and with the dynamical Casimir vacuum. We propose that this...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Preston Jones, Patrick McDougall, Michael Ragsdale, Douglas Singleton
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2018-06-01
Series:Physics Letters B
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0370269318303496