Vacuum metastability with black holes

Abstract

We consider the possibility that small black holes can act as nucleation seeds for the decay of a metastable vacuum, focussing particularly on the Higgs potential. Using a thin-wall bubble approximation for the nucleation process, which is possible when generic quantum gravity corrections are added to the Higgs potential, we show that primordial black holes can stimulate vacuum decay. We demonstrate that for suitable parameter ranges, the vacuum decay process dominates over the Hawking evaporation process. Finally, we comment on the application of these results to vacuum decay seeded by black holes produced in particle collisions.