Related papers: Topological String Defect Formation During the Chi…

This work deals with the construction of networks of topological defects in models described by a single complex scalar field. We take advantage of the deformation procedure recently used to describe kinklike defects in order to build…

Beginning with a review of the arguments leading to the so-called c=1 barrier in the continuum formulation of noncritical string theory, the pathology is then exhibited in a discretized version of the theory, formulated through dynamical…

A new configuration of non-abelian D1-branes growing into D5-branes is found. This time the effect is triggered by a non-trivial electric field on the world-volume of the D1-branes and a constant RR 4-form potential. Based on the these…

In these lectures, I review the current status of cosmic strings and cosmic superstrings. I first discuss topological defects in the context of Grand Unified Theories, focusing in particular in cosmic strings arising as gauge theory…

The process of baryon number transfer due to string junction propagation in rapidity space is considered. It leads to a significant effect in the net baryon production in pA collisions at mid-rapidities and an even more significant effect…

In crystals, two bands may cross each other and form degeneracies along a closed loop in the three-dimensional momentum space, which is called nodal line. Nodal line degeneracy can be designed to exhibit various configurations such as nodal…

Tidal captures can produce objects that are observationally and dynamically important in dense stellar systems. Recent discoveries of compact young clusters in and out of the Galaxy have prompted the studies of dynamics of star clusters…

We propose a simple mean-field ansatz to study phase transitions from a topological phase to a trivial phase. We probe the efficiency of this approach by considering the string-net model in the presence of a string tension for any anyon…

We consider the non-equilibrium dynamics of topologically ordered systems driven across a continuous phase transition into proximate phases with no, or reduced, topological order. This dynamics exhibits scaling in the spirit of Kibble and…

Topological defects play a key role in nonequilibrium phase transitions, ranging from birth of the early universe to quantum critical behavior of ultracold atoms. In solids, transient defects are known to generate a variety of hidden orders…

The string duality revolution calls into question virtually all of the working assumptions of string model builders. A number of difficult questions arise. I use fractional charge as an example of a criterion which one would hope is robust…

In chiral crystals crystalline symmetries can protect multifold fermions, pseudo-relativistic masless quasiparticles that have no high-energy counterparts. Their realization in transition metal monosilicides has exemplified their intriguing…

We study the contribution to the QCD axion dark matter abundance that is produced by string defects during the so-called scaling regime. Clear evidence of scaling violations is found, the most conservative extrapolation of which strongly…

I revisit the phase structure of hot and dense matter out of quarks and gluons with some historical consideration on the color deconfinement and chiral phase transitions. My goal is to make clear which part of the QCD phase diagram is under…

The observed limiting fragmentation of charged particle distributions in heavy ion collisions is difficult to explain as it does not apply to the proton spectrum itself. On the other hand, string percolation provides a mechanism to…

Using a description of defects in solids in terms of three-dimensional gravity, we study the propagation of electrons in the background of disclinations and screw dislocations. We study the situations where there are bound states that are…

Cosmic strings are linear concentrations of energy that may be formed at phase transitions in the very early universe. At one time they were thought to provide a possible origin for the density inhomogeneities from which galaxies eventually…

Topological phase transitions are typically characterized by abrupt changes in a quantized invariant. Here we report a contrasting paradigm in non-Hermitian parity-time symmetric systems, where the topological invariant remains conserved,…

We consider string theory in a time dependent orbifold with a null singularity. The singularity separates a contracting universe from an expanding universe, thus constituting a big crunch followed by a big bang. We quantize the theory both…

Perturbative estimates suggest that extended topological defects such as cosmic strings emit few particles, but numerical simulations of the fields from which they are constructed suggest the opposite. In this paper we study the decay of…