Perturbations of Q-balls: from spectral structure to radiation pressure

Abstract

Abstract We investigate Q-balls in a 1+1 dimensional complex scalar field theory. We find that the relaxation of a squashed Q-ball is dominated by the decay of a normal mode through nonlinear coupling to scattering modes and a long-lasting quasi-normal mode. We also study how these Q-balls behave when exposed to scalar radiation, finding that for certain conditions they can experience negative radiation pressure.