Related papers: The spontaneous breaking of a metastable string
We consider the phase transition of a string with tension $\eps_1$ to a string with a smaller tension $\eps_2$ at finite temperature. For sufficiently small temperatures the transition proceeds through thermally catalyzed quantum tunneling,…
We consider decay of metastable topological configurations such as strings and domain walls. The transition from a state with higher energy density to a state with lower one proceeds through quantum tunneling or through thermally catalyzed…
The problem of a massive elastic string depinning from a linear defect under the action of a small driving force is considered. To exponential accuracy the decay rate is calculated with the help of the instanton method; then, fluctuations…
We calculate the probability of destruction of a metastable string by collisions of the Goldstone bosons, corresponding to the transverse waves on the string. We find a general formula that allows to determine the probability of the string…
Metastable cosmic strings appear in models of new physics with a two-step symmetry breaking $G\to H\to 1$, where $\pi_1(H)\neq 0$ and $\pi_1(G)=0$. They decay via the monopole-antimonopole pair creation inside. Conventionally, the breaking…
Breaking of an atomic chain under stress is a collective many-particle tunneling phenomenon. We study classical dynamics in imaginary time by using conformal mapping technique, and derive an analytic formula for the probability of breaking.…
The decay rate of metastable states is determined at high temperatures by thermal activation, whereas at temperatures close to zero quantum tunneling is relevant. At some temperature $T_{c}$ the transition from classical to…
We systematically analyze the decay of metastable topological defects that arise from the spontaneous breakdown of gauge or global symmetries. Quantum-mechanical tunneling rates are estimated for a variety of decay processes. The decay rate…
String breaking is a central dynamical process in theories featuring confinement, where a string connecting two charges decays at the expense of the creation of new particle-antiparticle pairs. Here, we show that this process can also be…
We study the classical breaking of a highly excited (closed or open) string state on the leading Regge trajectory, represented by a rotating soliton solution, and we find the resulting solutions for the outgoing two pieces, describing two…
We explain simple semi-classical rules to estimate the lifetime of any given highly-excited quantum state of the string spectrum in flat spacetime. We discuss both the decays by splitting into two massive states and by massless emission. As…
We compute the decay rate of a metastable cosmic string in contact with a thermal bath by finding the instanton solution. The new feature is that this decay rate is found in the context of non thermal scalar fields in contact with a thermal…
We show that metastable cosmic strings break at early times, either via finite-temperature effects or by attaching to pre-existing monopoles during network percolation. The resulting segments can be initially super-horizon in size and thus…
A dynamical study of the decay of a metastable state by quantum tunneling through an anisotropic, non separable, two-dimensional potential barrier is performed by the numerical solution of the time-dependent Schrodinger equation. Initial…
Metastable strings can arise from a two-step symmetry breaking chain of the type $SU(2) \to U(1) \to 1$.They can decay through quantum tunneling by nucleating a monopole-antimonopole pair, and are prominent candidates for explaining the…
We find a one-parameter family of long-lived physical string states in type II superstring theory. We compute the decay rate by an exact numerical evaluation of the imaginary part of the one-loop propagator. Remarkably, the lifetime rapidly…
We generalize the string method, originally designed for the study of thermally activated rare events, to the calculation of quantum tunneling rates. This generalization is based on the analogy between quantum mechanics and statistical…
The decay of metastable states is dominated by quantum tunneling at low temperatures and by thermal activation at high temperatures. The escape rate of a particle out of a square well is calculated within a semi-classical approximation and…
We discuss exclusive decays of large spin mesons into mesons in models of large N_c quenched QCD at strong coupling using string theory. The rate of the processes are calculated by studying the splitting of a macroscopic string on the…
We study the decay of high spin mesons using the gauge/string theory correspondence. The rate of the process is calculated by studying the splitting of a macroscopic string intersecting a D-brane. The result is applied to the decay of…