SearcharxivSearch

arXiv subjects

Steffen Krusch

Publications and source records attributed to Steffen Krusch.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Type I/II Vortex Dynamics With Excited Normal Modes

We investigate the effects of excited normal modes on vortex dynamics in the Abelian Higgs model in the type I (static attraction) and type II (static repulsion) regimes. We demonstrate that shape normal modes compete with the static inter-vortex forces. This can result in excited type I (II) vortices repelling (attracting). In addition we observe the existence of spectral walls that prevent the formation (break up) of bound states in type I (II) systems. We study the long lived quasi-bound states and orbits induced by their competing forces and the effective centrifugal forces. Finally, we observe that the effect is strong enough to induce vortex-antivortex pairs to follow long-lived orbits.

hep-th

Scattering of Vortices with Excited Normal Modes

We consider head-on collisions at critical coupling of vortices modelled by the Abelian-Higgs model. We investigate the 2-vortex scattering, whereby the vortices are excited by the shape mode causing fluctuations in the gauge-invariant quantities. When the vortices are excited with a sufficiently large amplitude the moduli space approximation fails, and we observe an interesting behaviour in which the vortices can become trapped in a quasi-bound state with multiple bounces. We perform a detailed investigation on the behaviour of these excited vortices and sample a phase space of solutions. Interestingly, we find a fractal structure dependent on the initial phase of the mode and velocity of the vortices.

math-ph

Vortices and magnetic impurities

Ginzburg-Landau vortices in superconductors attract or repel depending on whether the value of the coupling constant is less than 1 or larger than 1. At critical coupling it was previously observed that a strongly localised magnetic impurity behaves very similarly to a vortex. This remains true for axially symmetric configurations away from critical coupling. In particular, a delta function impurity of a suitable strength is related to a vortex configuration without impurity by singular gauge transformation. However, the interaction of vortices and impurities is more subtle and depends not only on the coupling constant and the impurity strength, but also on how broad the impurity is. Furthermore, the interaction typically depends on the distance and may be attractive at short distances and repulsive at long distances. Numerical simulations confirm moduli space approximation results for the scattering of one and two vortices with an impurity. However, a double vortex will split up when scattering with an impurity, and the direction of the split depends on the sign of the impurity. Head-on collisions of a single vortex with different impurities away from critical coupling is also briefly discussed.

hep-th

Dynamics of vortices with magnetic impurities

We investigate the dynamics of BPS vortices in the presence of magnetic impurities taking the form of axially-symmetric localised lumps and delta-functions. We present numerical results for vortices on flat space, as well as exact results for vortices on hyperbolic space in the presence of delta-function impurities. In fact, delta-function impurities of appropriate strength can be captured within the moduli space approximation by keeping one or more of the vortices fixed. We also show that previous work on vortices on the 2-sphere extends naturally to the inclusion of delta-function impurities.

hep-th

Moduli Spaces of Lumps on Real Projective Space

Harmonic maps that minimise the Dirichlet energy in their homotopy classes are known as lumps. Lump solutions on real projective space are explicitly given by rational maps subject to a certain symmetry requirement. This has consequences for the behaviour of lumps and their symmetries. An interesting feature is that the moduli space of charge three lumps is a $7$-dimensional manifold of cohomogeneity one which can be described as a one-parameter family of symmetry orbits of $D_2$ symmetric maps. In this paper, we discuss the charge three moduli spaces of lumps from two perspectives: discrete symmetries of lumps and the Riemann-Hurwitz formula. We then calculate the metric and find explicit formulas for various geometric quantities. We also discuss the implications for lump decay.

hep-th

Scattering of Skyrmions

In this paper, we present a detailed study of Skyrmion-Skyrmion scattering for two $B=1$ Skyrmions in the attractive channel where we observe two different scattering regimes. For large separation, the scattering can be approximated as interacting dipoles. We give a qualitative estimate when this approximation breaks down. For small separations we observe an additional short-range repulsion which is qualitatively similar to monopole scattering. We also observe the interesting effect of "rotation without rotating" whereby two Skyrmions, whose orientations remain constant while well-separated, change their orientation after scattering. We can explain this effect by following preimages through the scattering process, thereby measuring which part of an in-coming Skyrmion forms part of an out-going Skyrmion. This leads to a new way of visualising Skyrmions. Furthermore, we consider spinning Skyrmions and find interesting trajectories.

hep-th

Baby Skyrme models without a potential term

We develop a one-parameter family of static baby Skyrme models that do not require a potential term to admit topological solitons. This is a novel property as the standard baby Skyrme model must contain a potential term in order to have stable soliton solutions, though the Skyrme model does not require this. Our new models satisfy an energy bound that is linear in terms of the topological charge and can be saturated in an extreme limit. They also satisfy a virial theorem that is shared by the Skyrme model. We calculate the solitons of our new models numerically and observe that their form depends significantly on the choice of parameter. In one extreme, we find compactons while at the other there is a scale invariant model in which solitons can be obtained exactly as solutions to a Bogomolny equation. We provide an initial investigation into these solitons and compare them with the baby Skyrmions of other models.

hep-th

Classically isospinning Skyrmion solutions

We investigate how isospin affects the geometrical shape and energy of classical soliton solutions of topological charges $B=1-4,8$ in the Skyrme model. The novel approach in our work is that we study classically isospinning Skyrmions beyond the rigid-body approximation; that is, we explicitly allow the soliton solutions to deform and to break the symmetries of the static configurations. Our fully three-dimensional relaxation calculations reveal that the symmetries of isospinning Skyrme solitons can differ significantly from the ones of the static configurations. In particular, isospinning Skyrmion solutions can break up into lower-charge Skyrmions, can deform into new solution types that do not exist at vanishing angular frequency $ω$ or energy degeneracy can be removed. These types of deformations have been largely ignored in previous work on modeling nuclei by quantized Skyrmion solutions.

hep-th

Negative Baryon density and the Folding structure of the B=3 Skyrmion

The Skyrme model is a non-linear field theory whose solitonic solutions, once quantised, describe atomic nuclei. The classical static soliton solutions, so-called Skyrmions, have interesting discrete symmetries and can only be calculated numerically. Mathematically, these Skyrmions can be viewed as maps between to two three-manifolds and, as such, their stable singularities can only be folds, cusps and swallowtails. Physically, the occurrence of singularities is related to negative baryon density. In this paper, we calculate the charge three Skyrmion to a high resolution in order to examine its singularity structure in detail. Thereby, we explore regions of negative baryon density. We also discuss how the negative baryon density depends on the pion mass.

hep-th

Dynamics of multi-kinks in the presence of wells and barriers

Sine-Gordon kinks are a much studied integrable system that possesses multi-soliton solutions. Recent studies on sine-Gordon kinks with space-dependent square-well-type potentials have revealed interesting dynamics of a single kink interacting with wells and barriers. In this paper, we study a class of smooth space-dependent potentials and discuss the dynamics of one kink in the presence of different wells. We also present values for the critical velocity for different types of barriers. Furthermore, we study two kinks interacting with various wells and describe interesting trajectories such as double-trapping, kink knock-out and double-escape.

hep-th

Fermions, Skyrmions and the 3-Sphere

This paper investigates a background charge one Skyrme field chirally coupled to light fermions on the 3-sphere. The Dirac equation for the system commutes with a generalised angular momentum or grand spin. It can be solved explicitly for a Skyrme configuration given by the hedgehog form. The energy spectrum and degeneracies are derived for all values of the grand spin. Solutions for non-zero grand spin are each characterised by a set of four polynomials. The paper also discusses the energy of the Dirac sea using zeta function regularization.

hep-th

Recent Developments in the Skyrme Model

In this talk, we describe recent developments in the Skyrme model. Our main focus is on discussing various effects which need to be taken into account, when calculating the properties of light atomic nuclei in the Skyrme model. We argue that an important step is to understand "spinning Skyrmions" and discuss the theory of relative equilibria in this context.

hep-th

Exact moduli space metrics for hyperbolic vortices

Exact metrics on some totally geodesic submanifolds of the moduli space of static hyperbolic N-vortices are derived. These submanifolds, denoted Σ_{n,m}, are spaces of C_n-invariant vortex configurations with n single vortices at the vertices of a regular polygon and m=N-n coincident vortices at the polygon's centre. The geometric properties of Σ_{n,m} are investigated, and it is found that Σ_{n,n-1} is isometric to the hyperbolic plane of curvature -1/(3πn). Geodesic flow on Σ_{n,m}, and a geometrically natural variant of geodesic flow recently proposed by Collie and Tong, are analyzed in detail.

hep-th

Quantization of Skyrmions

The Skyrme model is a nonlinear classical field theory which models the strong interaction between atomic nuclei. In order to compare the predictions of the Skyrme model with nuclear physics, it has to be quantized. We show, summarizing earlier work, how the rational map ansatz can be employed to calculate the Finkelstein-Rubinstein constraints which arise during quantization. Then we give an overview of current results on the quantum ground states in the Skyrme model. We end with an outlook on future work.

hep-th

Schrodinger-Chern-Simons Vortex Dynamics

We study the motion of vortices in the planar Ginzburg-Landau model with Schrodinger-Chern-Simons dynamics. We compare the moduli space approximation with the results of numerical simulations of the full field theory and find that there is agreement if the coupling constant is very close to the critical value separating Type I from Type II superconductors. However, there are significant qualitative differences even for modest deviations from the critically coupled regime. Radiation effects produce forces which are of the same order of magnitude as the intervortex force and therefore have a significant impact on vortex motion. We conclude that the moduli space approximation does not provide a good description of the dynamics in this regime.

cond-mat.supr-con

Fermionic quantization of Hopf solitons

In this paper we show how to quantize Hopf solitons using the Finkelstein-Rubinstein approach. Hopf solitons can be quantized as fermions if their Hopf charge is odd. Symmetries of classical minimal energy configurations induce loops in configuration space which give rise to constraints on the wave function. These constraints depend on whether the given loop is contractible. Our method is to exploit the relationship between the configuration spaces of the Faddeev-Hopf and Skyrme models provided by the Hopf fibration. We then use recent results in the Skyrme model to determine whether loops are contractible. We discuss possible quantum ground states up to Hopf charge Q=7.

hep-th

Finkelstein-Rubinstein constraints for the Skyrme model with pion masses

The Skyrme model is a classical field theory modelling the strong interaction between atomic nuclei. It has to be quantized in order to compare it to nuclear physics. When the Skyrme model is semi-classically quantized it is important to take the Finkelstein-Rubinstein constraints into account. Recently, a simple formula has been derived to calculate the these constraints for Skyrmions which are well-approximated by rational maps. However, if a pion mass term is included in the model, Skyrmions of sufficiently large baryon number are no longer well-approximated by the rational map ansatz. This paper addresses the question how to calculate Finkelstein-Rubinstein constraints for Skyrme configurations which are only known numerically.

hep-th

Spinning Skyrmions and the Skyrme Parameters

The traditional approach to fixing the parameters of the Skyrme model requires the energy of a spinning Skyrmion to reproduce the nucleon and delta masses. The standard Skyrme parameters, which are used almost exclusively, fix the pion mass to its experimental value and fit the two remaining Skyrme parameters by approximating the spinning Skyrmion as a rigid body. In this paper we remove the rigid body approximation and perform numerical calculations which allow the spinning Skyrmion to deform and break spherical symmetry. The results show that if the pion mass is set to its experimental value then the nucleon and delta masses can not be reproduced for any values of the Skyrme parameters; the commonly used Skyrme parameters are simply an artifact of the rigid body approximation. However, if the pion mass is taken to be substantially larger than its experimental value then the nucleon and delta masses can be reproduced. This result has a significant effect on the structure of multi-Skyrmions.

hep-th