Related papers: Quantum fields with topological defects
The gravitational field of monopoles, cosmic strings and domain walls is studied in the quadratic gravitational theory $R+\alpha R^2$ with $\alpha |R|\ll 1$, and is compared with the result in Einstein's theory. The metric aquires…
In cosmological scenarios based on grand unification, string theory or braneworlds, many kinds of topological or non-topological defects, including monopoles and cosmic strings, are predicted to be formed in the early universe. Here 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…
In the framework of the Closed-Time-Path formalism, we show how topological defects may arise in Quantum Field Theory as result of a localized (inhomogeneous) condensation of particles. We demonstrate our approach on two examples; kinks in…
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…
The problem of extending fields that are defined on lattices to fields defined on the continua that they become in the continuum limit is basically one of continuous extension from the 0-skeleton of a simplicial complex to its…
We study the behavior of non-relativistic quantum particles interacting with different potentials in the space-times generated by a cosmic string and a global monopole. We find the energy spectra in the presence of these topological defects…
Defects are both physically rich objects and powerful tools in modern quantum field theory. They are extended operators, such as boundaries, impurities, and probe particles, embedded in many-body systems. In this dissertation, we study the…
Perturbative estimates suggest that extended topological defects such as cosmic strings emit few particles, but numerical simulations of the fields from which they are constructed suggest the opposite. In this paper we study the decay of…
The topic of cosmic strings provides a bridge between the physics of the very small and the very large. They are predicted by some unified theories of particle interactions. If they exist, they may help to explain some of the largest-scale…
We introduce a framework for internal topological symmetries in quantum field theory, including "noninvertible symmetries" and "categorical symmetries". This leads to a calculus of topological defects which takes full advantage of…
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…
The theories in which our world presents a domain wall (brane) embedded in large extra dimensions predict new types of topological defects. These defects arise due to the fact that the brane on which we live spontaneously breaks isometries…
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…
The relation between connections on 2-dimensional manifolds and holomorphic bundles provides a new perspective on the role of classical gauge fields in quantum field theory in two, three and four dimensions. In particular we show that there…
It is shown that background fields of a topological character usually introduced as such in compactified string theories correspond to quantum degrees of freedom which parametrise the freedom in choosing a representation of the zero mode…
When the topology of the universe is non trivial, it has been shown that there are constraints on the network of domain walls, cosmic strings and monopoles. I generalize these results to textures and study the cosmological implications of…
We show that when a topological defect with extended world-volume annihilates with an anti-defect, there arise topological defects with dimensions less than those of the original defects by one. Domain wall annihilations create vortices…
I briefly describe a new class of soliton configurations in field theories. These consist of topological defects which can end when they intersect other defects of equal or higher dimensionality. Such configurations may be termed…
A supersymmetric theory with several scalar superfields generically has several domain wall type classical configurations which interpolate between various supersymmetric vacua of the scalar fields. Depending on the couplings, some of these…