The conventional interpretation of the Hawking-Moss (HM) solution implies a transition rate between vacua that depends only on the values of the potential in the initial vacuum and at the top of a potential barrier, leading to the implausible conclusion that transitions to distant vacua can be as likely as those to a nearby one. I analyze this issue using a nongravitational example with analogous properties. I show that such HM bounces do not give reliable rate calculations, but are instead related to the probability of finding a quasistable configuration at a local potential maximum.

• Received 14 December 2006

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.251303