Related papers: Defect Structures in Field Theory
We propose a new way to build networks of defects. The idea takes advantage of the deformation procedure recently employed to describe defect structures, which we use to construct networks, spread from small rudimentary networks that appear…
We review investigations on defects in systems described by real scalar fields in (D,1) space-time dimensions. We first work in one spatial dimension, with models described by one and two real scalar fields, and in higher dimensions. We…
Defects are a useful tool in the study of quantum field theories. This is illustrated in the example of two-dimensional conformal field theories. We describe how defect lines and their junction points appear in the description of symmetries…
In this work we introduce new scalar field models and study the defect solutions they may engender. The investigation is based on the deformation procedure, which greatly simplify the calculations, leading us to new models together with the…
In this work we review some features of topological defects in field theory models for real scalar fields. We investigate topological defects in models involving one and two or more real scalar fields. In models involving a single field we…
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…
These lectures review certain topological defects and aspects of their cosmology. Unconventional material includes brief descriptions of electroweak defects, the structure of domain walls in non-Abelian theories, and the spectrum of…
We study various aspects of codimension one defects in free scalar field theory, with particular emphasis on line defects in two-dimensions. These defects are generically non-conformal, but include conformal and topological defects as…
This note is intended as an introduction to the functorial formulation of quantum field theories with defects. After some remarks about models in general dimension, we restrict ourselves to two dimensions - the lowest dimension in which…
We develop a general procedure to deal with defect structures in generalized models, described by a single real scalar field, in (1,1) spacetime dimensions. The models that we consider have the standard kinetic and potential contributions…
This is a survey article for the Encyclopedia of Mathematical Physics, 2nd Edition. Topological defects are described in the context of the 2-dimensional Ising model on the lattice, in 2-dimensional quantum field theory, in topological…
In these lectures, I describe the formation of defect distributions in first-order phase transitions, then briefly discuss the relevance of defect interactions after a phase transition and the observational signatures of cosmic strings.…
The scenario of a cosmology with topological defects is surveyed starting from the field theoretic aspects and ending with a description of large-scale structure formation and magnetic field generation. (Lectures delivered at ICTP, Trieste,…
This is a revised version of gr-qc/9304033
We introduce a method to obtain deformed defects starting from a given scalar field theory which possesses defect solutions. The procedure allows the construction of infinitely many new theories that support defect solutions, analytically…
Defects in conformal field theories are interesting objects to study from both formal and applied points of view. In this paper, we construct conformal defects in free scalar field CFTs in diverse dimensions. After discussing the possible…
Defects are ubiquitous in nature, for example dislocations, shocks, bores, or impurities of various kinds, and their descriptions are an important part of any physical theory. However, one might ask the question: what types of defect are…
The following 5 lectures are devoted to key ideas in field theory and in the Standard Model.
This work deals with defect structures in models described by scalar fields. The investigations focus on generalized models, with the kinetic term modified to allow for a diversity of possibilities. We develop a new framework, in which we…
If the vacuum manifold of a field theory has the appropriate topological structure, the theory admits topological structures analogous to the D-branes of string theory, in which defects of one dimension terminate on other defects of higher…