Kink-antikink scattering in a quantum vacuum
Mainak Mukhopadhyay, Evangelos I. Sfakianakis, Tanmay Vachaspati, George Zahariade
Abstract
A bstract We study kink-antikink scattering in the sine-Gordon model in the presence of interactions with an additional scalar field, ψ , that is in its quantum vacuum. In contrast to the classical scattering, now there is quantum radiation of ψ quanta and the kink-antikink may form bound states that resemble breathers of the sine-Gordon model. We quantify the rate of radiation and map the parameters for which bound states are formed. Even these bound states radiate and decay, and eventually there is a transition into long-lived oscillons.
Topics & Concepts
Bound statePhysicsScatteringQuantumBreatherScalar fieldQuantum mechanicsVacuum energyQuantum field theorySineQuantum electrodynamicsNonlinear systemMathematicsGeometryStrong Light-Matter InteractionsNonlinear Photonic SystemsCold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates