  A semiclassical picture of spontaneous symmetry breaking in light front field
theory is formulated. It is based on a finite-volume quantization of
self-interacting scalar fields obeying antiperiodic boundary conditions. This
choice avoids a necessity to solve the zero mode constraint and enables one to
define unitary operators which shift scalar field by a constant. The operators
simultaneously transform the light-front vacuum to coherent states with lower
energy than the Fock vacuum and with non-zero expectation value of the scalar
field. The new vacuum states are non-invariant under the discrete or continuous
symmetry of the Hamiltonian. Spontaneous symmetry breaking is described in this
way in the two-dimensional \lambda\phi^4 theory and in the three-dimensional
O(2)-symmetric sigma model. A qualitative treatment of topological kink
solutions in the first model and a derivation of the Goldstone theorem in the
second one is given. Symmetry breaking in the case of periodic boundary
conditions is also briefly discussed.
