Kink Dynamics in the $\varphi^{4}$ Model with Extended Impurity

Abstract

The $\varphi^{4}$ theory is widely used in many areas of physics, from cosmology and elementary particle physics to biophysics and condensed matter theory. Topological defects, or kinks, in this theory describe stable, solitary wave excitations. In practice, these excitations, as they propagate, necessarily interact with impurities or imperfections in the on-site potential. In this work, we focus on the effect of the length and strength of a rectangular impurity on the kink dynamics. It is found that the interaction of a kink with an extended impurity is qualitatively similar to the interaction with a well-studied point impurity described by the delta function, but significant quantitative differences are observed. The interaction of kinks with an extended impurity described by a rectangular function is studied numerically. All possible scenarios of kink dynamics are determined and described, taking into account resonance effects. The inelastic interaction of the kink with the repulsive impurity arises only at high initial kink velocities. The