Statistical mechanics of solitons

A general class of 1 D kink solitary wave bearing Hamiltonians is presented. Classical, low T, static properties are understood fully for the whole class, including striking universal T dependencies. Complete agreement is obtained between transfer integral results and a phenomenological approach in terms of an effective gas of independent kinks and linear phonons if a (thermally) renormalized kink energy is used because of kink phonon interactions. Static correlations are also described, emphasizing dependencies on the particular functions being correlated. Qualitative phenomenology at higher T is discussed. Some modifications to the gradient coupling term in the class are discussed.