Abstract
The physics of individual Q-balls and interactions between multiple Q-balls are well-studied in classical numerical simulations. Interesting properties and phenomena have been discovered, involving stability, forces, collisions and swapping of charge between different components of multi-Q-ball systems. We investigate these phenomena in quantum field theory, including quantum corrections to leading order in a 2PI coupling expansion, the inhomogeneous Hartree approximation. The presence of quantum modes and new decay channels allows the mean-field Q-ball to exchange charge with the quantum modes, and also alters the charge swapping frequencies of the composite Q-balls. It is also observed that the periodic exchanges between the mean-field and quantum modes tend to be quenched by collisions between Q-balls. We illustrate how the classical limit arises through a scaling of the Q-ball potential, making quantum corrections negligible for large-amplitude Q-balls.
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Acknowledgments
SYZ acknowledges support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China under grant No. 12075233 and 12247103, and from the National Key R&D Program of China under grant No. 2022YFC220010. The work of PMS was supported by an STFC Consolidated Grant [Grant No. ST/T000732/1],
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Xie, QX., Saffin, P.M., Tranberg, A. et al. Quantum corrected Q-ball dynamics. J. High Energ. Phys. 2024, 165 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP01(2024)165
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP01(2024)165