We study what might be called fractional vortices, vortex configurations with the minimum winding from the viewpoint of their topological stability, but which are characterized by various notable substructures in the transverse energy distribution. The fractional vortices occur in diverse Abelian or non-Abelian generalizations of the Higgs model. The global and local features characterizing these are studied, and we identify the two crucial ingredients for their occurrence - the vacuum degeneracy leading to non-trivial vacuum moduli M, and the BPS nature of the vortices. Fractional vortices are further classified into two kinds. The first type of such vortices appear when M has orbifold Z_n singularities; the second type occurs in systems in which the vacuum moduli space M possesses either a deformed geometry or some singularity. These general features are illustrated with several concrete models.
We construct the general vortex solution in a fully-Higgsed, color-flavor locked vacuum of a non-Abelian gauge theory, where the gauge group is taken to be the product of an arbitrary simple group and U(1), with a Fayet-Iliopoulos term. The strict correspondence between vortices and lumps in the associated Non-Linear Sigma-Model which arise in the limit of strong coupling is pointed out. The construction of the vortex moduli space is derived here as a consequence of this correspondence.
Ricci magnetic geodesic (RMG) motion in a kähler manifold is the analogue of geodesic motion in the presence of a magnetic field proportional to the ricci form. It has been conjectured to model low-energy dynamics of vortex solitons in the presence of a Chern-Simons term, the kähler manifold in question being the $n$-vortex moduli space. This paper presents a detailed study of RMG motion in soliton moduli spaces, focusing on the cases of hyperbolic vortices and spherical $\mathbb{C}P^1$ lumps. It is shown that RMG flow localizes on fixed point sets of groups of holomorphic isometries, but that…
We study BPS non-abelian semilocal vortices in U(Nc) gauge theory with Nf flavors, Nf > Nc, in the Higgs phase. The moduli space for arbitrary winding number is described using the moduli matrix formalism. We find a relation between the moduli spaces of the semilocal vortices in a Seiberg-like dual pairs of theories, U(Nc) and U(Nf-Nc). They are two alternative regularizations of a "parent" non-Hausdorff space, which tend to the same moduli space of sigma-model lumps in the infinite gauge coupling limits. We examine the normalizability of the zero-modes and find the somewhat surprising phenome…
Thick oriented and nonoriented center-vortex $SU(N)$ configurations with fractional topological charge lumps
Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal Fluminense（弗鲁米嫩塞联邦大学物理研究所）；Instituto de Física Teórica, Universidade Estadual Paulista and South-American Institute of Fundamental Research ICTP-SAIFR（圣保罗州立大学理论物理研究所及南美基础研究所ICTP-SAIFR）；Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Tübingen（蒂宾根大学理论物理研究所）；Instituto de Física de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo（圣保罗大学圣卡洛斯物理研究所）
We discuss a novel type of fractional flux vortices along with integer flux vortices in Kosterlitz-Thouless transitions in a triplet superconductor. We show that under certain conditions a spin-triplet superconductor should exhibit a novel state of {\it spin superfluidity} without superconductivity.
We construct a molecule of fractional vortices with fractional topological lump charges as a baby Skyrmion with the unit topological lump charge in the anti-ferromagnetic (or XY) baby Skyrme model, that is, an O(3) sigma model with a four derivative term and an anti-ferromagnetic or XY-type potential term quadratic in fields. We further construct configurations with topological lump charges Q <= 7 and find that bound states of vortex molecules constitute regular polygons with 2Q vertices as vortices, where the rotational symmetry SO(2) in real space is spontaneously broken into a discrete subg…
We study BPS string-like solutions in the 3+1 dimensional gauged CP(1) non-linear sigma model. The same analysis can be applied to study instantons in 2 euclidean dimensions. We use the moduli matrix approach to construct analytically the moduli space and and solve numerically the BPS equations. We identify two topologically inequivalent type of magnetic vortices, which we call S and N vortices. Moreover we discuss their relation to "lump-string" solutions present in the un-gauged case. In particular, we describe how a lump is split into a couple of component S-N vortices after gauging. We ext…
We discuss vortices allowed in two-gap superconductors, bilayer systems and in equivalent extended Faddeev model. We show that in these systems there exist vortices which carry an arbitrary fraction of magnetic flux quantum. Besides that we discuss topological defects which do not carry magnetic flux and describe features of ordinary one-magnetic-flux-quantum vortices in the two-gap system. The results should be relevant for the newly discovered two-band superconductor $Mg B_2$.
In this paper we study fractional as well as semi-local Chern-Simons vortices in G = U(1) x SO(2M) and G = U(1) x USp(2M) theories. The master equations are solved numerically using appropriate Ansatze for the moduli matrix field. In the fractional case the vortices are solved in the transverse plane due to the broken axial symmetry of the configurations (i.e. they are non-rotational invariant). It is shown that unless the fractional vortex-centers are all coincident (i.e. local case) the ring-like flux structure, characteristic of Chern-Simons vortices, will become bell-like fluxes - just as …
We study non-linear sigma models whose target spaces are the Higgs phases of supersymmetric SO and USp gauge theories by using the Kahler and hyper-Kahler quotient constructions. We obtain the explicit Kahler potentials and develop an expansion formula to make use of the obtained potentials from which we also calculate the curvatures of the manifolds. The 1/2 BPS lumps in the U(1) x SO and U(1) x USp Kahler quotients and their effective descriptions are also studied. In this connection, a general relation between moduli spaces of vortices and lumps is discussed. We find a new singular limit of…
Based on the $ϕ$-mapping theory, we obtain an exact Bogomol'nyi self-dual equation with a topological term, which is ignored in traditional self-dual equation, in the fractional quantum Hall system. It is revealed that there exist self-dual vortices in the system. We investigate the inner topological structure of the self-dual vortices and show that the topological charges of the vortices are quantized by Hopf indices and Brouwer degrees. Furthermore, we study the branch processes in detail. The vortices are found generating or annihilating at the limit points and encountering, splitting or me…
We discuss a phase diagram of two-dimentional $U(1)\times U(1)$ superconductor in the field theoretic formalizm of Ref. [17]. In particular we discuss that in the type-I case the system exhibit a quasi-neutral quasi-superfluid state.
We analytically construct vortex solutions in the integrable sector of the extended Skyrme-Faddeev model. The solutions are holomorphic type which satisfy the zero curvature condition. For the model parameter $βe^2=1$ there is a lump solution, and for $βe^2 \neq 1$ new potentials are introduced for the several molecular-shaped solutions with half-integer or integer charges. They necessarily have infinite number of conserved currents and some of the examples are shown. By performing an annealing simulation with our potentials, we verify the existence of the solutions of the integrable sector.
We provide a simple explanation of complex magnetic patterns observed in ferromagnetic nanostructures. To this end we identify elementary topological defects in the field of magnetization: ordinary vortices in the bulk and vortices with half-integer winding numbers confined to the edge. Domain walls found in experiments and numerical simulations in strips and rings are composite objects containing two or more of the elementary defects.
By means of variational methods, in this paper, we establish sharp existence results for solutions of the master equations governing `fractional multiple vortices.' In the doubly periodic situation, the conditions for existence are both necessary and sufficient and give the upper bounds for the vortex numbers in terms of the size of the periodic cell domain. In the planar situation, there is no restriction on the vortex numbers. In both situations, the solutions are uniquely determined by the prescribed locations and the local winding numbers of the vortices.
We have investigated and verified the existence of stable uncharged Bogomol'nyi-Prasad-Sommerfeld (BPS) vortices in the framework of an Abelian Maxwell-Higgs model supplemented with CPT-even and Lorentz-violating (LV) terms belonging to the gauge and Higgs sectors of the standard model extension. The analysis is performed in two situations: first, one by considering the Lorentz violation only in the gauge sector and then in both gauge and Higgs sectors. In the first case, it is observed that the model supports vortices somehow equivalent to the ones appearing in a dielectric medium. The Lorent…
The purpose of this paper is to describe a relationship between the moduli space of vortices and the moduli space of instantons. We study charge k vortices in U(N) Yang-Mills-Higgs theories and show that the moduli space is isomorphic to a special Lagrangian submanifold of the moduli space of k instantons in non-commutative U(N) Yang-Mills theories. This submanifold is the fixed point set of a U(1) action on the instanton moduli space which rotates the instantons in a plane. To derive this relationship, we present a D-brane construction in which the dynamics of vortices is described by the Hig…
Vortex solutions in $U(1)\times U(1)$ Chern-Simons theory coupled to a pair of hard-core bosons representing two layers of electrons are analysed. It is shown that there is such a range of parameters $(αβ<γ^{2})$ in which finite charge $(1,0)$ or $(0,1)$ vortices can not exist. Instead the minimal flux quanta are $(1,1)$ hybrids. Their statistical dominance is shown to have an influence on Haldane-Halderin hierarchy of states. The form of Coulomb potential and its influence on the range of physically acceptable states is discussed.
It has been remarked in several previous works that the combination of center vortices and nexuses (a nexus is a monopole-like soliton whose world line mediates certain allowed changes of field strengths on vortex surfaces) carry topological charge quantized in units of 1/N for gauge group SU(N). These fractional charges arise from the interpretation of the standard topological charge integral as a sum of (integral) intersection numbers weighted by certain (fractional) traces. We show that without nexuses the sum of intersection numbers gives vanishing topological charge (since vortex surfaces…
We discuss a novel method of obtaining the fractional spin of abelian and nonabelian Chern-Simons vortices. This spin is interpreted as the difference between the angular momentum obtained by modifying Schwinger's energy momentum tensor by the Gauss constraint, and the canonical (Noether) angular momentum. It is found to be a boundary term depending only on the gauge field and, hence, is independent of the matter sector to which the Chern-Simons term couples. Addition of the Maxwell term does not alter the fractional spin.
Self-dual vortex solutions are studied in detail in the generalized abelian Higgs model with independent Chern-Simons interaction. For special choices of couplings, it reduces to a Maxwell-Higgs model with two scalar fields, a Chern-Simons-Higgs model with two scalar fields, or other new models. We investigate the properties of the static solutions and perform detailed numerical analyses. For the Chern-Simons-Higgs model with two scalar fields in an asymmetric phase, we prove the existence of multisoliton solutions which can be viewed as hybrids of Chern-Simons vortices and $CP^1$ lumps. We al…
We study effects of the internal coherent (Rabi) coupling in vortex lattices in two-component BECs under rotation. We find how the vortex lattices without the Rabi coupling known before are connected to the Abrikosov lattice of integer vortices with increasing the Rabi coupling. We find that 1) for small Rabi couplings, fractional vortices in triangular or square lattice for small or large inter-component coupling constitute hexamers or tetramers, namely multi-dimer bound states made of six or four vortices, respectively, 2) these bound states are broken into a set of dimers at intermediate Ra…
A detailed study of vortices is presented in Ginzburg-Landau (or Abelian Higgs) models with two complex scalars (order parameters) assuming a general U(1)$\times$U(1) symmetric potential. Particular emphasis is given to the case, when only one of the scalars obtains a vacuum expectation value (VEV). It is found that for a significantly large domain in parameter space vortices with a scalar field condensate in their core (condensate core, CC) coexist with Abrikosov-Nielsen-Olesen (ANO) vortices. Importantly CC vortices are stable and have lower energy than the ANO ones. Magnetic bags or giant v…
We study the statistics of vortices which appear in (2+1)--dimensional spontaneously broken gauge theories, where a compact group G breaks to a finite nonabelian subgroup H. Two simple models are presented. In the first, a quantum state which is symmetric under the interchange of a pair of indistinguishable vortices can be transformed into an antisymmetric state after the passage through the system of a third vortex with an appropriate $H$-flux element. Further, there exist states containing two indistinguishable spinless vortices which obey Fermi statistics. These results generalize to loops …
We consider the Abelian-Higgs model with two complex scalar fields and arbitrary positive integer charges with the addition of a higher-order generalization of the Josephson term. The theory possesses vortices of both local and global variants. The only finite-energy configurations are shown to be the local vortices for which a certain combination of vortex numbers and electric charges -- called the global vortex number -- vanishes. The local vortices have rational fractional magnetic flux, as opposed to the global counterparts that can have an arbitrary fractional flux. The global vortices ha…
In order to study the rotating strongly coupled Bose-Einstein condensations(BEC), a holographic model defined in an AdS black hole that duals to a coupled two-component condensations in global $U(1)$ symmetry broken phase with intercomponent coupling $η$ and internal coherent coupling $ε$ is proposed. By solving the dynamics of the model, we study the process of formation and also the crossover from fractional to integer vortex phases. With changing only $η$ from zero to a finite value, fractional vortex lattices undergo a transition from hexagon to square lattice and finally to vortex sheets.…
Non-Abelian Josephson junction is a junction of non-Abelian color superconductors sandwiching an insulator, or non-Abelian domain wall if flexible, whose low-energy dynamics is described by a $U(N)$ principal chiral model with the conventional pion mass. A non-Abelian Josephson vortex is a non-Abelian vortex (color magnetic flux tube) residing inside the junction, that is described as a non-Abelian sine-Gordon soliton. In this paper, we propose Josephson instantons and Josephson monopoles, that is, Yang-Mills instantons and monopoles inside a non-Abelian Josephson junction, respectively, and s…
Fermion-number fractionalization without breaking of time-reversal symmetry was recently demonstrated for a field theory in $(2+1)$-dimensional space and time that describes the couplings between massive Dirac fermions, a complex-valued Higgs field carrying an axial gauge charge of 2, and a U(1) axial gauge field. Charge fractionalization occurs whenever the Higgs field either supports vortices by itself, or when these vortices are accompanied by half-vortices in the axial gauge field. The fractional charge is computed by three different techniques. A formula for the fractional charge is given…
We discuss some of the latest results concerning the non-Abelian vortices. The first concerns the construction of non-Abelian BPS vortices based on general gauge groups of the form G= G' x U(1). In particular detailed results about the vortex moduli space have been obtained for G'=SO(N) or USp(2N). The second result is about the "fractional vortices", i.e., vortices of the minimum winding but having substructures in the tension (or flux) density in the transverse plane. Thirdly, we discuss briefly the monopole-vortex complex.
In this review, we discuss various properties of topological solitons in dense QCD matter, with a particular emphasis on the CFL phase exhibiting superfluidity and superconductivity, and their phenomenological implications in terms of the effective field theories such as the Ginzburg-Landau theory, the chiral Lagrangian, or the Bogoliubov--de Gennes equation. The most fundamental topological excitations are non-Abelian vortices, which are 1/3 quantized superfluid vortices and color magnetic flux tubes. They are created at a phase transition or a rotation such compact stars. The intervortex-int…
We find a novel confinement mechanism in the two-flavor dense quark matter proposed recently, that consists of the 2SC condensates and the $P$-wave diquark condensates of $d$-quarks. This quark matter exhibiting color superconductivity as well as superfluidity is classified into two phases; confined and deconfined phases of vortices. We establish that the criterion of the confinement is color neutrality of Aharonov-Bohm (AB) phases: vortices exhibiting color non-singlet AB phases are confined by the so-called AB defects to form color-singlet bound states. In the deconfined phase, the most stab…
We discuss general properties and possible types of magnetic vortices in non-Abelian gauge theories (we consider here $G= SU(N), SO(N), USp(2N)$) in the Higgs phase. The sources of such vortices carry "fractional" quantum numbers such as $Z_n$ charge (for SU(N)), but also full non-Abelian charges of the dual gauge group. If such a model emerges as an effective dual magnetic theory of the fundamental (electric) theory, the non-Abelian vortices can provide for the mechanism of quark-confinement in the latter.
We give a gauge-invariant definition of the vortex surface in SU(N) Yang-Mills theory without using the gauge fixing procedure. In this construction, gauge-invariant magnetic monopoles with fractional magnetic charges emerge in the boundary of the non-oriented vortex surface such that the asymptotic string tension reproduces the correct $N$-ality dependence. We show that gauge-invariant magnetic monopoles and vortices are simultaneously responsible for quark confinement in four dimensional spacetime based on the Wilson criterion. These results are extracted from a non-Abelian Stokes theorem de…
The description of a system of vortices in terms of dual fields provides a window to new phases of the system. It was found recently that dualizing a 3+1-d boson-fermion system leads to a system of fermions and vortices interacting via a 2-form field through a non-local term. Here we explore some consequences of such an interaction when the degrees of freedom of the system are confined to a 2+1-d space-time. In particular, we show that the vortices in the 2+1-d system are attached to the fermions via their non-zero spin magnetic moment in a way similar to the phenomenon of flux attachment in C…
The Fibonacci topological order is the simplest platform for a universal topological quantum computer, consisting of a single type of non-Abelian anyon, $τ$, with fusion rule $τ\timesτ=1+τ$. While it has been proposed that the anyon spectrum of the $ν=12/5$ fractional quantum Hall state includes a Fibonacci sector, a dynamical picture of how a pure Fibonacci state may emerge in a quantum Hall system has been lacking. Here we use recently proposed non-Abelian dualities to construct a Fibonacci state of bosons at filling $ν=2$ starting from a trilayer of integer quantum Hall states. Our parent t…
We compute the vacuum fermion current in $(2+1)$ dimensional Jackiw-Rossi model by using the $1/m$ expansion. The current is expressed through a weighted $η$-function with a matrix weight. In the presence of such a weight, the usual proof of topological nature of $η(0)$ is not longer applicable. Direct computations confirm the following surprising result: the fermion number induced by vortices in the Jackiw-Rossi model is \textit{not} topological.
We investigate vortex soliton solutions in 2+1 dimensional scalar gauge theories, in the presence of source terms in the action. Concretely, this would be applied to anyons, as well as the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect (FQHE). We classify solitons for renormalizable potentials, as well as some nonrenormalizable examples that could be relevant for the FQHE. The non-Abelian case, specifically for theories with global non-Abelian symmetries, is also investigated, as is the non-relativistic limit of the above theories, when we get a modification of the Jackiw-Pi model, with an interesting new vor…
A rich variety of order parameter manifolds of multicomponent Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) admit various kinds of topological excitations, such as fractional vortices, monopoles, skyrmions, and knots. In this paper, we discuss two topological excitations in spinor BECs: non-Abelian vortices and knots. Unlike conventional vortices, non-Abelian vortices neither reconnect themselves nor pass through each other, but create a rung between them in a topologically stable manner. We discuss the collision dynamics of non-Abelian vortices in the cyclic phase of a spin-2 BEC. In the latter part, we s…
