Kelvin waves in nonequilibrium universal dynamics of relativistic scalar field theories

Abstract

We investigate the different degrees of freedom underlying far-from-equilibrium scaling behaviour in a relativistic, single-component $\mathrm{O}(1)$ scalar field theory in two and three spatial dimensions. In such a strongly correlated many-body system, identifying the respective roles of nonlinear wave excitations and defect dynamics is a prerequisite for understanding the universal character of time evolution far from equilibrium and thus the different possible universality classes of nonthermal fixed points. Using unequal-time two-point correlation functions, we extract information about the dominant infrared excitations and study their connections to the turbulent dynamics of topological defects created in the system. In three dimensions, the primary excitations are identified as kelvon quasiparticles, which are quantised Kelvin waves propagating along vortex lines, while in two dimensions, vortices are point defects, and the infrared dynamics is dominated by bound-state like excitations similar to Kelvin waves. In both cases, the kelvon excitations are found to be characterised by distinct time-evolving dispersion relations, subject to the coarsening dynamics close to the respective nonthermal fixed point and, thus, to the decay of superfluid turbulence in the system. Our results underline the role of topological defects and their influence on the universal dynamics of strongly correlated systems near nonthermal fixed points, complementing the analysis of large-$N$ models in $\mathrm{O}(N)$ systems.