Field Configurations and their Instability Induced by Higher Dimensions of Spacetime: An Example

Abstract

We use the model of L. Randall et al to investigate the stability of allowed quantum field configurations. Firstly, we find that due to the topology of this 5 dimensional model, there are 2 possible configurations of the scalar field, untwisted and twisted. They give rise to two types of instability. Secondly, when allowed to interact in the 3-brane, the untwisted field becomes unstable even if it is at the true vacuum groundstate.This instability in the 4D submanifold results results from one-loop corrections that arise from coupling with the twisted field. On the other hand, the twisted field can make the two 3-branes distinguishable by causing an energy difference between them. That is due to the antiperiodicity of the twisted fields, when rotating with $\pi$ to go from one 3-brane to the other. The energy difference between the branes renders the fifth dimension unstable.