  We study how the hot Universe evolves and acquires the prevailing vacuum
state, demonstrating that in specific conditions which are believed to apply,
the Universe becomes frozen into the state with the smallest value of Higgs
vacuum field $v=\langle h\rangle$, even if this is not the state of lowest
energy. This supports the false vacuum dark energy $\Lambda$-model. Under
several likely hypotheses we determine the temperature in the evolution of the
Universe at which two vacuua $v_1, v_2$ can swap between being true and false.
We evaluate the dynamical surface pressure on domain walls between low and high
mass vaccua due to the presence of matter and show that the low mass state
remains the preferred vacuum of the Universe.

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics;General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology;High Energy Physics - Phenomenology