Rotating kinky braneworlds

TL;DR

This paper explores a novel method of stabilizing cylindrical braneworlds through rotation, using a microscopic field theory model, and examines how rotation influences the geometry and potential cosmological implications.

Contribution

It introduces a rotating braneworld model based on a microscopic field theory, providing new insights into stabilization and geometric effects beyond existing methods.

Findings

Rotation stabilizes the braneworld against collapse.

Rotation affects the bulk and brane geometry.

Worldvolume fields may reside at different radii, impacting fermion masses.

Abstract

Cylindrical braneworlds have been used in the literature as a convenient way to resolve co-dimension-two branes. They are prevented from collapsing by a massless worldvolume field with non-trivial winding, but here we discuss another way of preventing collapse, which is to rotate the brane. We use a simple microscopic field theory model of a domain wall with a condensate for which rotation is a necessity, not just a nice added extra. This is due to a splitting instability, whereby the effective potential trapping the condensate is not strong enough to hold it on the defect in the presence of winding without charge. We use analytic defect solutions in the field theory (kinky vortons) to construct a thin-wall braneworld model by including gravitational dynamics, and we allow for the rotation required by the microscopic theory. We then discuss the impact rotation has on the bulk and brane geometry, thereby providing an anchor for further cosmological investigations. Our setup naturally leads to worldvolume fields living at slightly different radii, and we speculate on the consequences of this in regard to the fermion mass-hierarchy.