Quantum Oscillons May be Long-Lived

Abstract

Hertzberg has constructed a quantum oscillon that decays into pairs of relativistic mesons with a power much greater than the radiation from classical oscillon decay. This result is often construed as a proof that quantum oscillons decay quickly, and so are inconsequential. We apply a construction similar to Hertzberg's to the quantum kink. Again it leads to a rapid decay via the emission of relativistic mesons. However, we find that this is the decay of a squeezed kink state to a stable kink state, and so it does not imply that the quantum kink is unstable. We then consider a time-dependent solution, which may be an oscillon, and we see that the argument proceeds identically.