Forces between kinks in φ 8 theory
File(s)d’Ornellas_2020_J._Phys._Commun._4_055014.pdf (1.53 MB)
Published version
Author(s)
d'Ornellas, Peru
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We investigate the dynamics of the kinks that emerge in a one-dimensional scalar field theory with an octic potential containing a quartic minimum and two quadratic minima. We show analytically that kink-antikink and kink-kink pairs interact with a force that scales with the fourth power of the inter-kink distance, and calculate its strength. This is done using two different techniques. The first employs a collective coordinate method to approximately solve the equation of motion for the profile of an accelerating kink. The second is based on modifying the potential to one that is able to support static solutions containing multiple kinks. We show that the two methods give consistent results. All calculations are supported by numerical work that confirms the validity of our results.
Date Issued
2020-05-25
Date Acceptance
2020-05-06
Citation
Journal of Physics Communications, 2020, 4 (5), pp.1-18
ISSN
2399-6528
Publisher
IOP Publishing
Start Page
1
End Page
18
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Physics Communications
Volume
4
Issue
5
Copyright Statement
© 2020 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd. Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Sponsor
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Identifier
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2399-6528/ab90c2
Grant Number
EP/N509486/1
Publication Status
Published online
Date Publish Online
2020-05-06