Related papers: Semilocal Topological Defects
Superconductors are the only experimentally accessible systems with spontaneously broken gauge symmetries which support topologically nontrivial defects, namely string defects. We propose two experiments whose aim is the observation of the…
Our understanding of the mechanism by which topological defects are formed in symmetry breaking phase transitions has recently changed. We examine the non-equilibrium dynamics of defect formation for weakly-coupled global O(N) theories…
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…
It is shown that the correct mathematical implementation of symmetry in the geometric formulation of classical field theory leads naturally beyond the concept of Lie groups and their actions on manifolds, out into the realm of Lie group…
We propose a new mechanism for formation of topological defects in a U(1) model with a local gauge symmetry. This mechanism leads to definite predictions, which are qualitatively different from those of the Kibble-Zurek mechanism of global…
Obtaining realistic supersymmetry preserving vacua in the minimal renormalizable supersymmetric $Spin(10)$ GUT model introduces considerations of the non-trivial topology of the vacuum manifold. The $D$-parity of low energy unification…
A topological defect separating a pair of two-dimensional CFTs is a codimension one interface along which all components of the stress-energy tensor glue continuously. We study topological defects of the bosonic, (0,1)- and…
We investigate the implications of the nontrivial vacuum structure of little Higgs models. In particular, focusing on the littlest Higgs model, we demonstrate the existence of three types of topological defects. One is a global cosmic…
In supersymmetric theories, topological defects can have nontrivial behaviors determined purely by whether or not supersymmetry is restored in the defect core. A well-known example of this is that some supersymmetric cosmic strings are…
Topological defects are found in a variety of systems, and their existence are robust under perturbations due to their topological nature. Here we introduce a new type of topological defects found in electromagnetic waves: topological spin…
We construct a new class of topological surface defects in Chern-Simons theory with non-compact, non-Abelian gauge groups. These defects are characterized by isotropic subalgebras defined by solutions of the modified classical Yang-Baxter…
Symmetries corresponding to local transformations of the fundamental fields that leave the action invariant give rise to (invertible) topological defects, which obey group-like fusion rules. One can construct more general (codimension-one)…
We study spontaneous gauge symmetry breaking and the Higgs mechanism in nonlocal field theories. Motivated by the level truncated action of string field theory, we consider a class of nonlocal field theories with an exponential factor of…
In this work we study particular TQFTs in three dimensions, known as Symmetry Topological Field Theories (or SymTFTs), to identify line defects of two-dimensional CFTs arising from the compactification of 6d $(2,0)$ SCFTs on 4-manifolds…
Semitopological Vortices (Q-Rings) are identified to be classical soliton configurations whose stability is attributed to both topological and nontopological charges. We discuss some recent work on the simplest possible realization of such…
A new two dimensional $\mathcal{N}=(0,2)$ Supersymmetric Non-Linear Sigma Model describes the dynamics of internal moduli of the BPS semi-local vortex string supported in four dimensional $\mathcal{N}=2$ SQED. While the core of these…
If Lorentz symmetry is broken, it must have occurred dynamically, via a vector or tensor field whose potential energy forces it to take on a non-zero background expectation value "in vacuum". If the set of minima of this potential (the…
The study of topological defects occurring in vector and tensor fields is an intriguing subject and little explored in the literature. In this article, we analyze the topological defects arising from the spontaneous violation of Lorentz…
New defects (Z-vortices and Nambu monopoles) are found to become thermodynamically relevant for the broken phase near to the (weakly first order) electroweak phase transition, and below the crossover for higher Higgs mass. The symmetric…
We review recent work on a new class of topological defects which possess a nonsymmetric core. They arise in scalar field theories with global symmetries, U(1) for domain walls and SU(2) for vortices, which are explicitly broken to $Z_2$…