Related papers: Semilocal Defects
Topological defects such as vortices, dislocations or domain walls define many important effects in superconductivity, superfluidity, magnetism, liquid crystals, and plasticity of solids. Here we address the breakdown of the…
Semilocal strings -- a particular limit of electroweak strings -- are an interesting example of a stable non-topological defect whose properties resemble those of their topological cousins, the Abrikosov-Nielsen-Olesen vortices. There is,…
Spontaneous symmetry breaking is a cornerstone of modern physics, defining a wealth of phenomena in condensed-matter and high-energy physics, and beyond. It requires an infinite number of degrees of freedom, and even then, for continuous…
We introduce a model governing the copropagation of two components which represent circular polarizations of light in the optical fiber with relative strength g = 2 of the nonlinear repulsion between the components, and linear coupling…
Finite-element micromagnetic simulations are employed to study the chiral symmetry breaking of magnetic vortices, caused by the surface roughness of thin-film magnetic structures. An asymmetry between vortices with different core…
Local gauge symmetries cannot break spontaneously, according to Elitzur's theorem, but this leaves open the possibility of breaking some global subgroup of the local gauge symmetry, which is typically the gauge symmetry remaining after…
In condensed matter physics gauge symmetries other than the U(1) of electromagnetism are of an emergent nature. Two emergence mechanisms for gauge symmetry are well established: the way these arise in Kramers-Wannier type local-global…
Lattice gauge theories are considered with a partial axial gauge fixing along one direction only. This leaves a residual gauge symmetry that is still local in three directions but now global in one. It is found that this $N^{d-1}$ fold…
Spontaneous symmetry breaking occurs in a system when its Hamiltonian possesses a certain symmetry, whereas the ground state wave functions do not preserve it. This provides such a scenario that a bifurcation, which breaks the symmetry,…
In binary superfluid counterflow systems, vortex nucleation arises as a consequence of hydrodynamic instabilities when the coupling coefficient and counterflow velocity exceed the critical value. When dealing with two identical components,…
We introduce a waveguiding system composed of three linearly-coupled fractional waveguides, with a triangular (prismatic) transverse structure. It may be realized as a tri-core nonlinear optical fiber with fractional group-velocity…
We propose and analyze a generalized two dimensional $XY$ model, whose interaction potential has $n$ weighted wells, describing corresponding symmetries of the system. As the lattice spacing vanishes, we derive by $\Gamma$-convergence the…
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…
We present a simple mechanism to produce vortices at any desired spatial locations in harmonically trapped Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) with multicomponent spin states coupled to external transverse and axial magnetic fields. The…
We study spontaneous symmetry breakings for fermions (spinless and spinful) on a two-dimensional kagome lattice with nearest-neighbor repulsive interactions in weak coupling limit, and focus in particular on topological Mott insulator…
We study the stability and structure of vortices emerging in two-dimensional quantum dots in high magnetic fields. Our results obtained with exact diagonalization and density-functional calculations show that vortex structures can be found…
We introduce a dual-core system with double symmetry, one between the cores, and one along each core, imposed by the spatial modulation of local nonlinearity in the form of two tightly localized spots, which may be approximated by a pair of…
Discrete symmetries are spatially ubiquitous but are often hidden in internal states of systems where they can have especially profound consequences. In this work we create and verify exotic magnetic phases of atomic spinor Bose-Einstein…
We formulate models of complex scalar fields in the space-time that has a two-dimensional sphere as extra dimensions. The Dirac-Wu-Yang monopole is set in two-sphere S^2 as a background gauge field. The nontrivial topology of the monopole…
Vortices in superfluid 3He-B have been observed to undergo a core transition. We discuss the analog phenomenon in relativistic field theories which admit embedded global domain walls, vortices and monopoles with a core phase structure. They…