Kinks and domain walls in models for real scalar fields

We investigate several models described by real scalar fields, searching for topological defects, and investigating their linear stability. We also find bosonic zero modes and examine the thermal corrections at the one-loop level. The classical investigations are of interest to high energy physics and applications in condensed matter, in particular to spatially extended systems where fronts and interfaces separating different phase states may appear. The thermal investigations show that the finite temperature corrections that appear in a specific model induce a second-order phase transition in the system, although the thermal effects do not suffice to fully restore the symmetry at high temperature.