Related papers: Stability of an electroweak string with a fermion …
We construct a simple class of exact solutions of the electroweak theory including the naked $Z$--string and fermion fields. It consists in the $Z$--string configuration ($\phi,Z_\theta$), the {\it time} and $z$ components of the neutral…
We show that the electroweak $Z-$string can be stabilized by the presence of bound states of a complex scalar field. We argue that fermions coupled to the scalar field of the string can also make the string stable and discuss the physical…
The stability of "visible" electroweak-type cosmic strings is investigated in an extension of the Standard Model (SM) by a minimal dark sector, consisting of a U(1) gauge field, broken spontaneously by a scalar. The "visible" and dark…
We give a prescription for embedding classical solutions and, in particular, topological defects in field theories which are invariant under symmetry groups that are not necessarily simple. After providing examples of embedded defects in…
We provide a thorough exposition, including technical and numerical details, of previously published results on the quantum stabilization of cosmic strings. Stabilization occurs through the coupling to a heavy fermion doublet in a reduced…
We discuss massless and massive neutrino zero modes in the background of an electroweak string. We argue that the eventual absence of the neutrino zero mode implies the existence of topologically stable strings where the required…
We investigate the standard model in a cosmic string background and show that the electroweak symmetry is partially restored. For a range of parameters the electroweak Higgs field can wind in this region, producing an electroweak string…
We provide a thorough exposition of recent results on the quantum stabilization of cosmic strings. Stabilization occurs through the coupling to a heavy fermion doublet in a reduced version of the standard model. The study combines the…
In the standard model, stabilization of a classically unstable cosmic string may occur through the quantum fluctuations of a heavy fermion doublet. We review numerical results from a semiclassical expansion in a reduced version of the…
Z-strings in the Weinberg-Salam model including fermions are unstable for all values of the parameters. The cause of this instability is the fermion vacuum energy in the Z-string background. Z-strings with non-zero fermion densities,…
We review a class of non-topological defects in the standard electroweak model, and their implications. Starting with the semilocal string, which provides a counterexample to many well known properties of topological vortices, we discuss…
Cosmic strings in realistic particle physics models have fermion zero modes in the string core. Such zero modes change the underlying cosmology; for example, the string can carry a current. We consider the stability of fermion zero modes to…
The standard electroweak model with Dirac neutrinos is extended by way of the principles of electroweak quark-lepton symmetry and weak topological-charge confinement to account for quark-lepton charge relations which, if not accidental, are…
We study the quantum stabilization of a cosmic string by a heavy fermion doublet in a reduced version of the standard model. We show that charged strings, obtained by populating fermionic bound state levels, become stable if the…
The effect of perturbations of electroweak strings on quark zero modes is studied in 2+1 and 3+1 dimensions. As first discovered by Naculich, it is found that the bosonic perturbations that destabilize the string give a mass to the zero…
We discuss the stability of an electroweak string with axions in its core, which give to the configuration a quasi-topological property, and compare it with other modifications using instantons in the thin wall approximation.
We discuss extensions of the Standard Model through extending the electroweak gauge symmetry. An extended electroweak symmetry requires a list of extra fermionic and scalar states. The former is necessary to maintain cancellation of gauge…
Z-strings in the Weinberg-Salam model including fermions are unstable for all values of the parameters. The cause of this instability is the fermion vacuum energy in the Z-string background. Z-strings with non-zero fermion densities,…
The standard electroweak theory admits a string solution, the Z string, in which only the electrically neutral Higgs fields are excited. This solution is unstable at zero temperature: Z strings decay by exciting charged Higgs modes. In the…
We study the quantum energy of the Z-string in 2+1 dimensions using the phase shift formalism. Our main interest is the question of stability of a Z-string carrying a finite fermion number.