Degenerate domain walls in supersymmetric theories.

Abstract

In supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories tension-degenerate domain walls are typical. Adding matter fields in fundamental representation, we arrive at supersymmetric quantum chromodynamics (SQCD) supporting similar walls. We demonstrate that the degenerate domain walls can belong to one of two classes: i) locally distinguishable, i.e. those which differ from each other locally (which could be detected in local measurements); and ii) those which have identical local structure and are differentiated only topologically, through a judicially chosen compactification of [Formula: see text]. Depending on the number of flavors <i>F</i> and the pattern of Higgsing, both classes can coexist among SQCD <i>k</i> walls interpolating between the vacua <i>n</i> and <i>n</i> + <i>k</i>. We prove that the overall multiplicity of the domain walls obtained after accounting for both classes is [Formula: see text], as was discovered previously in limiting cases. (Here, <i>N</i> is the number of colors.) Thus, [Formula: see text] is a peculiar index. For the locally distinguishable degenerate domain walls, we observe two-wall junctions, a phenomenon specific for supersymmetry with central extensions. This phenomenon does not exist for topological replicas.