Head butting sheep: Kink Collisions in the Presence of False Vacua

Abstract

We investigate numerically kink collisions in a $1+1$ dimensional scalar field theory with multiple vacua. The domain wall model we are interested in involves two scalar fields and a potential term built from an asymmetric double well and (double) sine-Gordon potential together with an interaction term. Depending on the initial kink setup and impact velocities, the model allows for a wide range of scattering behaviours. Kinks can repel each other, annihilate, form true or false domain walls and reflect off each other.

Matches version published in J. Phys. A. 32 pages, 20 figures and 9 kink scattering videos included as ancillary files