Leaving the BPS bound: Tunneling of classically saturated solitons

Abstract

We discuss quantum tunneling between classically BPS saturated solitons in two-dimensional theories with N=2 supersymmetry and a compact space dimension. Genuine BPS states form shortened multiplets of dimension two. In the models we consider there are two degenerate shortened multiplets at the classical level, but there is no obstruction to pairing up through quantum tunneling. The tunneling amplitude in the imaginary time is described by instantons. We find that the instanton is nothing but the 1/4 BPS saturated ``wall junction,'' considered previously in the literature in other contexts. Two central charges of the superalgebra allow us to calculate the instanton action without finding the explicit solution (it is checked, though, numerically, that the saturated solution does exist). We present a quantum-mechanical interpretation of the soliton tunneling.

LaTeX, 22 pages, 9 figures (eps)

References in corpus (6)

• A Bogomol`nyi equation for intersecting domain walls
• More on the Tensorial Central Charges in N=1 Supersymmetric Gauge Theories (BPS Wall Junctions and Strings)
• Domain Wall Junctions are 1/4-BPS States
• Domain wall junctions in a generalized Wess-Zumino model
• Calculating the tension of domain wall junctions and vortices in generalized Wess-Zumino models
• BPS Saturated Solitons in N=2 Two-Dimensional Theories on RxS (Domain Walls in Theories with Compactified Dimensions)

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