Related papers: Boundary Localized Symmetry Breaking and Topologic…
Explicit supersymmetry breaking is studied in higher dimensional theories by having boundaries respect only a subgroup of the bulk symmetry. If the boundary symmetry is the maximal subgroup allowed by the boundary conditions imposed on the…
We study defects in symmetry breaking phases, such as domain walls, vortices, and hedgehogs. In particular, we focus on the localized gapless excitations which sometimes occur at the cores of these objects. These are topologically protected…
Symmetry-breaking phase transitions are ubiquitous in condensed matter systems and in quantum field theories. There is also good reason to believe that they feature in the very early history of the Universe. At many such transitions…
The study of topology in solids is undergoing a renaissance following renewed interest in the properties of ferroic domain walls as well as recent discoveries regarding topological insulators and skyrmionic lattices. Each of these systems…
We study global topological defects in the Jacobson-Corley model which breaks Lorentz symmetry and involves up to fourth order derivatives. There is a window in the parameter space in which no solution exists. Otherwise, different profiles…
Supersymmetry breaking and compactification of extra space-time dimensions may have a common dynamical origin if our universe is spontaneously generated in the form of a four-dimensional topological or non-topological defect in higher…
We review the gauge symmetry breaking mechanism due to orbifold projections in orbifold model building. We explicitly show the existence of a scale of breaking if such a symmetry breaking is due to freely-acting orbifold operators only,…
A geometric mechanism that may, in analogy to similar notions in physics, be considered as "symmetry breaking" in geometry is described, and several instances of this mechanism in differential geometry are discussed: it is shown how…
Dynamical supersymmetry breaking is considered in models which admit descriptions in terms of electric, confined, or magnetic degrees of freedom in various limits. In this way, a variety of seemingly different theories which break…
On basis of an algebraic analysis of symmetry breaking in general and the Higgs mechanism in the standard model of elementary particles we generalize the concept of symmetry breaking to systems with non-compact groups but not necessarily…
Higher dimensions provide fertile ground for diverse topological phases and their associated localization phenomena, thanks to the rich geometric features of boundaries and defects. In this paper, we investigate non-Hermitian lattices with…
It is possible to construct models based on warped extra dimensions in which electroweak symmetry breaking takes place without the introduction of any Higgs fields. This breaking can occur through the judiciuous choice of boundary…
Topological defects are produced during phase transitions in the very early Universe. They arise in most unified theories of strong, weak and electromagnetic interactions. These lectures focus on the role of topological defects in…
Reduction in effective spacetime dimensionality can occur in field-theory models more general than the widely studied dimensional reductions based on technically consistent truncations. Situations where wavefunction factors depend…
We propose a class of field theories featuring solitonic solutions in which topological defects can end when they intersect other defects of equal or higher dimensionality. Such configurations may be termed ``Dirichlet topological…
In these lectures, I review cosmological phase transitions and the topological aspects of spontaneous symmetry breaking. I then discuss the formation of walls, strings and monopoles during phase transitions including lattice based studies…
Supersymmetry broken geometrically in extra dimensions naturally leads to a nearly degenerate spectrum for superparticles, ameliorating the bounds from the current searches at the LHC. We present a minimal such model with a single extra…
Topological defects are ubiquitous in physics. Whenever a symmetry breaking phase transition occurs, topological defects may form. The best known examples are vortex lines in type II super conductors or in liquid Helium, and declination…
We propose a mechanism of Higgsless gauge symmetry breaking with a large mass hierarchy. We consider a 5D gauge theory on an orbifold $S^1/Z_2$. The gauge symmetry is broken by orbifolding and also nontrivial boundary conditions at fixed…
We examine the interplay of symmetry and topological order in $2+1$ dimensional topological phases of matter. We present a definition of the \it topological symmetry \rm group, which characterizes the symmetry of the emergent topological…