Q-ball Scattering on Barriers and Holes in 1 and 2 Spatial Dimensions

Jassem H. Al-Alawi, Wojtek J. Zakrzewski

Published 2009-02-25Version 1

We discuss various scattering properties of non-topological solitons, Q-balls, on potential obstructions in (1+1) and (2+1) dimensions. These obstructions, barriers and holes, are inserted into the potential of the theory via the coupling parameter, ie \tilde\lambda, that is effective only in a certain region of space. When \tilde\lambda > 1 the obstruction is a barrier and when 0 < \tilde\lambda < 1 the obstruction is a hole. The dynamics of Q-balls on such obstructions in (1+1) dimensions is shown to be very similar to that of topological solitons provided that the Q-balls are stable. In (2+1) dimensions, numerical simulations have shown some differences from the dynamics of topological solitons. We discuss these differences in some detail.