Relativistic head-on collisions of $U(1)$ gauged Q-balls

Abstract

We investigate the collision dynamics of $U(1)$ gauged Q-balls by performing high-resolution numerical simulations in axisymmetry. Focusing on the case of relativistic head-on collisions, we consider the effects of the initial velocity, relative phase, relative charge, and electromagnetic coupling strength on the outcome of the collision. We find that the collision dynamics can depend strongly on these parameters; most notably, electromagnetic effects can significantly alter the outcome of the collision when the gauge coupling is large. When the gauge coupling is small, we find that the dynamics generally resemble those of ordinary (non-gauged) Q-balls.

Comments: 20 pages, 17 figures; v2: updated to reflect minor changes in published version