Deformed Skyrme Crystals

TL;DR

This paper explores how changing the periodicity in Skyrme crystal solutions leads to various configurations and reveals a phase transition between the crystal and a charge 4 skyrmion with cubic symmetry.

Contribution

It demonstrates the existence of multiple configurations arising from period variations and identifies a phase transition in Skyrme solutions.

Findings

Different configurations like double square walls and vortex solutions were observed.

A sudden phase transition occurs between the Skyrme crystal and the charge 4 skyrmion.

The phase transition depends on the periodicity in space directions.

Abstract

The Skyrme crystal, a solution of the Skyrme model, is the lowest energy-per-charge configuration of skyrmions seen so far. Our numerical investigations show that, as the period in various space directions is changed, one obtains various other configurations, such as a double square wall, and parallel vortex-like solutions. We also show that there is a sudden "phase transition" between a Skyrme crystal and the charge 4 skyrmion with cubic symmetry as the period is gradually increased in all three space directions.