Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking in General Relativity. Brane World Concept

TL;DR

This paper investigates how a vector order parameter in General Relativity can lead to spontaneous symmetry breaking, resulting in stable brane structures that can trap matter and produce varied particle masses.

Contribution

It introduces a macroscopic theory of phase transitions with vector order parameters, analyzing regular solutions and symmetry breaking in brane world models.

Findings

Existence of regular solutions with a vector order parameter.

Negative cosmological constant enables spontaneous symmetry breaking.

Configurations can trap matter and produce particles with different masses.

Abstract

Gravitational properties of a hedge-hog type topological defect in two extra dimensions are considered in General Relativity employing a vector as the order parameter. The developed macroscopic theory of phase transitions with spontaneous symmetry breaking is applied to the analysis of possible "thick" brane structures. The previous considerations were done using the order parameter in the form of a multiplet in a target space of scalar fields. The difference of these two approaches is analyzed and demonstrated in detail. There are two different symmetries of regular solutions of Einstein equations for a hedgehog type vector order parameter. Both solutions are analyzed in parallel analytically and numerically. Regular configurations in cases of vector order parameter have one more free parameter in comparison with the scalar multiplet solutions. It is shown that the existence of a negative cosmological constant is sufficient for the spontaneous symmetry breaking of the initially plain bulk. Regular configurations have a growing gravitational potential and are able to trap the matter to the brane. Among others there are solutions with the gravitational potential having several points of minimum. Identical in the uniform bulk spin-less particles, being trapped within separate points of minimum, acquire different masses and appear to an observer within the brane as different particles with integer spins.