Oscillons are extremely long-lived, spatially-localized field configurations in real-valued scalar field theories that slowly lose energy via radiation of scalar waves. Before their eventual demise, oscillons can pass through (one or more) exceptionally stable field configurations where their decay rate is highly suppressed. We provide an improved calculation of the non-trivial behavior of the decay rates, and lifetimes of oscillons. In particular, our calculation correctly captures the existence (or absence) of the exceptionally long-lived states for large amplitude oscillons in a broad class of potentials, including non-polynomial potentials that flatten at large field values. The key underlying reason for the improved (by many orders of magnitude in some cases) calculation is the systematic inclusion of a spacetime-dependent effective mass term in the equation describing the radiation emitted by oscillons (in addition to a source term). Our results for the exceptionally stable configurations, decay rates, and lifetime of large amplitude oscillons (in some cases $\gtrsim 10^8$ oscillations) in such flattened potentials might be relevant for cosmological applications.

中文翻译：

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振荡器的经典衰减率

振荡器是实值标量场理论中寿命极长的空间局部场配置，它通过标量波的辐射缓慢地失去能量。在它们最终消亡之前，振荡器可以通过（一个或多个）异常稳定的场配置，它们的衰减率受到高度抑制。我们提供了对衰减率的非平凡行为和振荡器寿命的改进计算。特别是，我们的计算正确地捕捉到了在广泛的电位类别中大振幅振荡的异常长寿命状态的存在（或不存在），包括在大场值处变平的非多项式电位。改进（在某些情况下是许多数量级）计算的关键根本原因是在描述振荡器发射的辐射的方程中系统地包含了与时空相关的有效质量项（除了源项）。我们对这种平坦电位中的大振幅振荡（在某些情况下 $\gtrsim 10^8$ 振荡）的异常稳定配置、衰减率和寿命的结果可能与宇宙学应用相关。