Scattering of the φ8 kinks with power-law asymptotics

We study the scattering of the phi(8) kinks off each other, namely, we consider those phi(8) kinks that have power-law asymptotics. The slow power-law fall-off leads to a long-range interaction between the kink and the antikink. We investigate how the scattering scenarios depend on the initial velocities of the colliding kinks. In particular, we observe the 'escape windows' - the escape of the kinks after two or more collisions, explained by the resonant energy exchange between the translational and vibrational modes. In order to elucidate this phenomenon, we also analyze the excitation spectra of a solitary kink and of a composite kink+antikink configuration. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.