Related papers: IS THERE A DOMAIN WALL PROBLEM?
We reconsider a cosmological evolution of domain walls produced by spontaneous breaking of an approxime discrete symmetry. We show, that domain walls may never collapse even if the standard bound on the vacuum energy asymmetry is satisfied.…
We study two-dimensional QED with unequal charges at finite temperature, and show that there is a phase with a spontaneously broken $Z_n$ symmetry. In spite of this, we were not able to establish the presence of domain walls. The relevance…
Domain wall structure which may form in theories with spontaneously broken parity is generically in conflict with standard cosmology. It has been argued that Planck scale suppressed effects can be sufficient for removing such domain walls.…
We study the interaction of particles with a domain wall at a symmetry-breaking phase transition by perturbing about the domain wall solution. We find the particulate excitations appropriate near the domain wall and relate them to the…
We study the dynamics of domain walls in a double-field model in which the U(1) symmetry is broken both spontaneously and explicitly. The global U(1) symmetry of the system is restored when the symmetry breaking parameter $\epsilon$ is set…
Many models for dynamical supersymmetry breaking have the domain wall solution of the Kovner-Shifman type and therefore contain the potential cosmological domain wall problem.We show that the degeneracy of the vacua is lifted in any model…
There has been recent interest in new types of topological defects arising in models with compact extra dimensions. We discuss in this context the old statement that if only SU(N) gauge fields and adjoint matter live in the bulk, and the…
The QCD axion needs not be an exact pseudoscalar for solving the strong CP problem. Its imperfectness can play a profound role cosmologically. We propose effective operators, where the Peccei-Quinn field linearly couples to Standard Model…
Spontaneous breaking of discrete symmetries play non-trivial role in many well-motivated particle physics models. However, it leads to a network of cosmologically unwanted domain walls (DWs) which can be made unstable by introducing a bias…
The Hohenberg--Mermin--Wagner theorem states that there is no spontaneous breaking of continuous symmetries in spatial dimensions $d\leq2$ at finite temperature. At zero temperature, the classical/quantum mapping further implies the absence…
We discuss formation of cosmic strings associated with a spontaneously broken approximate $U(1)$ symmetry by performing classical field-theoretical simulations. An original $U(1)$ symmetry is explicitly broken down to its subgroup $Z_N$…
We consider the signatures of a domain wall produced in the spontaneous symmetry breaking involving a dilaton-like scalar field coupled to electromagnetism. Domains on either side of the wall exhibit slight differences in their respective…
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 $Z_2$…
Topological defects can have significant cosmological consequences, so their production must be examined carefully. It is usually assumed that topological defects are produced if the temperature becomes sufficiently high, but in reality…
We examine an interesting scenario to solve the domain wall problem recently suggested by Preskill, Trivedi, Wilczek and Wise. The effective potential is calculated in the presence of the QCD axial anomaly. It is shown that some discrete…
We revisit the domain wall problem for QCD axion models with more than one quark charged under the Peccei-Quinn symmetry. Symmetry breaking during or after inflation results in the formation of a domain wall network which would cause cosmic…
Domain walls in equilibrium phase transitions propagate in a preferred direction so as to minimize the free energy of the system. As a result, initial spatio-temporal patterns ultimately decay toward uniform states. The absence of a…
We discuss the domain wall problem in the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, with particular attention to the usual solution of explicit breaking of the discrete symmetry by non-renormalisable operators. This ``solution'' leads…
Unified models incorporating the right handed neutrino in a symmetric way generically possess parity symmetry. If this is broken spontaneously it results in the formation of domain walls in the early Universe, whose persistence is unwanted.…
After inflation occurs, a weakly coupled scalar field will in general not be in thermal equilibrium but have a distribution of values determined by the inflationary Hubble parameter. If such a field subsequently undergoes discrete symmetry…