Scattering of kinks in scalar-field models with higher-order self-interactions

Abstract: Higher-order scalar field models in two dimensions, including the $\phi^8$ model, have been researched. It has been shown that for some special cases of the minima positions of the potential, the explicit kink solutions can be found. However, in physical applications, it is very important to know all the explicit solutions of a model for any minima position. In the present study, with the help of some deformation functions, we have shown that higher-order scalar field theories can be obtained with explicit kinks. In particular, we introduced two deformation functions that, when applied to the well known $\phi^4$ and $\phi^6$ models, produce modified $\phi^8$ and $\phi^{10}$ models, respectively, with all their explicit kink-like solutions which depend on a single parameter. Since this parameter controls the position of the minima of the potential, we have found interesting new solutions in many distinct cases. We have also studied the kink mass, the behavior of the excitation spectra and several kink-antikink collisions for these two new modified models. The collision outcome is determined by the initial configuration, specifically the sequence in which the kink-antikink and antikink-kink pairings emerge. Another interesting finding is the suppression of resonance windows, which may be explained by the presence of a set of internal modes in the model.