SCMP Economy5/17/2026Science1 min readChina
Physicists Simulate Cosmic Bubble Expansion That Could Erase Everything
Quick Look
- Physicists simulated "false vacuum decay," a theoretical scenario where a tiny cosmic bubble could expand and erase everything in its path.
- The experiment showed how a metastable "false vacuum" could tunnel into a lower-energy "true vacuum" via quantum effects, triggering destructive vacuum bubbles.
- The research does not suggest the universe is imminent collapse.
AI-generated summary
Font size
If a certain tiny bubble suddenly appeared somewhere in the cosmos, physicists say, it could expand and erase everything in its path.
Known as “false vacuum decay”, the scenario has been one of the most unsettling ideas in theoretical physics for nearly half a century.
The experiment simulated how a metastable “false vacuum” could tunnel into a lower-energy “true vacuum” through purely quantum effects, triggering the formation and expansion of destructive vacuum bubbles.
The research does not suggest the universe is about to collapse.
Related Topics
This article was originally published by SCMP Economy.
