Part 2/14:
The False Vacuum and the End of Everything
For decades, scientists pondered whether our universe resides in a true vacuum, the state of lowest possible energy, or a false vacuum—a metastable state that could decay. If it’s the latter, then a quantum tunneling event could suddenly catalyze a transformation of reality, destroying everything in its wake. Coleman’s insights showed that this threat is not only real but ever-present, lurking in the quantum fabric of space and time.