# False vacuum decay in quantum spin chains and quantum simulators

- Institution: CERN
- Speaker: Gianluca Lagnese
- Year: 2026
- Language: English
- Subjects: Physics
- Source: [CERN](https://videos.cern.ch/record/3025669)
- Licence: [CERN](https://copyright.web.cern)
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (sources give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the source's own words)

Confinement and false vacuum decay are cornerstone non-perturbative phenomena in quantum field theory. Both emerge when an explicit symmetry breaking field lifts the degeneracy of a vacuum. In this framework, confined states act as droplets of the "false" vacuum, while decay occurs through the nucleation of "true" vacuum bubbles via quantum tunneling. Recent breakthroughs in controllable quantum platforms, including trapped ions and Rydberg atom arrays, have moved these concepts from theory to the lab. While confinement has already been observed, real time investigations of false vacuum decay are now on the horizon. I will discuss how these phenomena manifest in quantum spin chains, focusing on real time dynamics following a quantum quench and experimental setups that provide a controlled environment to study quantum tunneling and bubble nucleation.

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## Lectures

1. [False vacuum decay in quantum spin chains and quantum simulators](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/cern/3025669/a18b10484910), 1 h 6 min (CERN's player)