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Dynamics of ZN domain walls in SU(N) gauge theories

Sayanjit Banerjee*, Sanatan Digal†, and Sumit Shaw‡

  • *Contact author: sayanjitb@imsc.res.in
  • †Contact author: digal@imsc.res.in
  • ‡Contact author: sumitshaw@imsc.res.in
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Phys. Rev. D 114, 054507 – Published 21 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/sgnq-pkpy

Abstract

We study collisions of domain walls in SU(N) gauge theories using the Polyakov-loop effective potential models. We find that string junctions play a crucial role in the dynamics of ZN domain walls. In SU(3) gauge theory, the merger of two nonplanar Z3 domain walls into a single wall proceeds via the creation of a vortex-antivortex pair in 2+1 dimensions. In SU(4) gauge theory, low-energy collisions of Z4 walls result in the formation of a single domain wall without the creation of vortices. At higher collision energies, two Z4 domain walls can either bounce back or scatter into another pair of domain walls through the formation of vortices. The creation of vortex-antivortex pairs generalizes to the creation of string loops in 3+1 dimensions for both gauge theories. These results demonstrate a direct dynamical role for topological strings in the evolution of center-domain-wall networks and reveal a new aspect of defect dynamics in non-Abelian gauge theories.

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Phys. Rev. D 114, 054507– Published 21 September, 2026
  • Received 25 June 2026
  • Accepted 11 August 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP3.

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