Dressing up the kink

Yoav Bergner and Luís M. A. Bettencourt
Phys. Rev. D 69, 045002 – Published 6 February 2004
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Abstract

Many quantum field theoretical models possess nontrivial solutions which are stable for topological reasons. We construct a self-consistent example for a self-interacting scalar field—the quantum (or dressed) kink—using a two particle irreducible effective action in the Hartree approximation. This new solution includes quantum fluctuations determined self-consistently and nonperturbatively at the 1-loop resummed level and allowed to back react on the classical mean-field profile. This dressed kink is static under the familiar Hartree equations for the time evolution of quantum fields. Because the quantum fluctuation spectrum is lower lying in the presence of the defect, the quantum kink has a lower rest energy than its classical counterpart. However its energy is higher than well-known strict 1-loop results, where back reaction and fluctuation self-interactions are omitted. We also show that the quantum kink exists at finite temperature and that its profile broadens as temperature is increased until it eventually disappears.

  • Received 15 July 2003

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.69.045002

©2004 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Yoav Bergner*

  • Center for Theoretical Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA

Luís M. A. Bettencourt

  • Center for Theoretical Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA and
  • Los Alamos National Laboratory, MS B256, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA

  • *Electronic address: bergner@mit.edu
  • Electronic address: lmbett@lanl.gov; URL: http://www.c3.lanl.gov/lmbett

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Vol. 69, Iss. 4 — 15 February 2004

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