Kinks in Time and their Relation to Confinement

TL;DR

This paper reviews the formation of electric flux tubes using spacelike branes and rolling tachyons, exploring their relation to confinement and topological defect formation in time-dependent backgrounds.

Contribution

It introduces the use of spacelike branes and rolling tachyons to analyze time-dependent flux tube formation, extending D-brane concepts to dynamic scenarios.

Findings

Spacelike branes can model the formation of electric flux tubes.

Rolling tachyons serve as a tool to understand time-dependent D-brane dynamics.

S-branes can change their worldvolume signature, indicating topological defect formation.

Abstract

The time dependent formation of an electric flux tube (fundamental string) is reviewed. The main tool used for analysis is the Spacelike brane, which is a kink in time of the rolling tachyon. Both the S-brane and rolling tachyon are attempts to extend the D-brane concept to time dependent backgrounds. While S-branes are similar to Euclidean counterparts of the more familiar timelike D-branes, S-branes can smoothly change their worldvolume signature from spacelike to timelike which we interpret as the formation of a topological defect.