Symmetric solitonic excitations of the (1 + 1)-dimensional Abelian-Higgs classical vacuum

• Published in: Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics Vol. 91; no. 2; p. 023202
• Main Authors: Diakonos, F K, Katsimiga, G C, Maintas, X N, Tsagkarakis, C E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.02.2015
• ISSN: 1550-2376
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.91.023202

We study the classical dynamics of the Abelian-Higgs model in (1 + 1) space-time dimensions for the case of strongly broken gauge symmetry. In this limit the wells of the potential are almost harmonic and sufficiently deep, presenting a scenario far from the associated critical point. Using a multiscale perturbation expansion, the equations of motion for the fields are reduced to a system of coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations. Exact solutions of the latter are used to obtain approximate analytical solutions for the full dynamics of both the gauge and Higgs field in the form of oscillons and oscillating kinks. Numerical simulations of the exact dynamics verify the validity of these solutions. We explore their persistence for a wide range of the model's single parameter, which is the ratio of the Higgs mass (m(H)) to the gauge-field mass (m(A)). We show that only oscillons oscillating symmetrically with respect to the "classical vacuum," for both the gauge and the Higgs field, are long lived. Furthermore, plane waves and oscillating kinks are shown to decay into oscillon-like patterns, due to the modulation instability mechanism.