Annihilation of electroweak dumbbells

Abstract We study the annihilation of electroweak dumbbells and the dependence of their dynamics on initial dumbbell length and twist. Untwisted dumbbells decay rapidly while maximally twisted dumbbells collapse to form a compact sphaleron-like object, before decaying into radiation. The decay produ...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Teerthal Patel, Tanmay Vachaspati
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2024-02-01
Series:Journal of High Energy Physics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP02(2024)164
Description
Summary:Abstract We study the annihilation of electroweak dumbbells and the dependence of their dynamics on initial dumbbell length and twist. Untwisted dumbbells decay rapidly while maximally twisted dumbbells collapse to form a compact sphaleron-like object, before decaying into radiation. The decay products of a dumbbell include electromagnetic magnetic fields with energy that is a few percent of the initial energy. The magnetic field from the decay of twisted dumbbells carries magnetic helicity with magnitude that depends on the twist, and handedness that depends on the decay pathway.
ISSN:1029-8479