Many quantum field theories come with non-perturbative objects such as solitons and instantons, and non-perturbative effects such as the Schwinger effect. However, it is hard to find any review on experiments that directly observed such non-perturbative physics. Is there any experiments that were conducted or to be conducted which aim to observe non-perturbative effects?
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3$\begingroup$ Look around you... the entire universe is one giant "non-perturbative effect". Perturbation theory has nothing to do with nature, it's just the poor man's math at work. $\endgroup$– CuriousOneJun 23, 2016 at 2:59
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1$\begingroup$ @CuriousOne yeah, but thats hardly evidence to the skeptical mind. That is, one doesn't know a priori the world can't be described perturbatively, it would be nice to see non-perturbative theory at play experimentally. $\endgroup$– anon01Jun 23, 2016 at 3:25
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$\begingroup$ @ConfusinglyCuriousTheThird: If you want to make a sport out of perturbation theory, nothing to stop you. Before you do, though, try to solve the three body problem non-perturbatively. ;-) $\endgroup$– CuriousOneJun 23, 2016 at 3:33
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$\begingroup$ This post (v1) seems to be a list question. $\endgroup$– Qmechanic ♦Jun 23, 2016 at 4:06
1 Answer
It is easy to make solitons in water. See this video and the video coming after it with the bubbles. They are the nonlinear solutions of the differential equations governing flow.Also I recomend the one with bubbles .
Ball lightning is proposed to be a soliton solution.