Quantum tunneling with global charge

We investigate quantum tunneling in the theory of a complex scalar field with a global U(1) symmetry when the charge density of the initial configuration does not vanish. We discuss the possible final configurations and set up the Euclidean path integral formalism to find the bubble nucleation and to study the bubble evolution. For the stationary path, or the bounce solution, in the Euclidean time, the phase variable becomes pure imaginary so that the charge density remains real. We apply this formalism to examples when the initial charge density is small. While the phase transition considered here occurs in zero temperature, the bubble dynamics is richly complicated, involving conserved charge, the sound wave, and the supersonic bubble wall. © 1994 The American Physical Society.