2007/12/03 by Szabolcs Borsányi, Szabolcs Borsanyi, Mark Hindmarsh · 3 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #hep-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.77.045022
published as Phys.Rev.D77:045022,2008 · 10 pages revtex, 7 figures
arxiv created 2007/12/03 · openalex publication_date 2008/02/19 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
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 two-dimensional prototype of strings, domain walls in a simple scalar theory, solving the underlying quantum field theory in the Hartree approximation. We conclude that including the quantum effects makes the picture clear: the defects do not directly transform into particles, but there is a nonperturbative channel to microscopic classical structures in the form of propagating waves and persistent localized oscillations, which operates over a huge separation of scales. When quantum effects are included, the microscopic classical structures can decay into particles.