The scattering of Dirac fermions in the background fields of topological solitons of the $(2+1)$-dimensional nonlinear $O(3)$ $σ$-model is studied using both analytical and numerical methods. General formulae describing fermion scattering are obtained and the symmetry properties of the partial scattering amplitudes and elements of the $S$-matrix are determined. Within the framework of the Born approximation, the scattering amplitudes, differential cross-sections, and total cross-sections of fermion-soliton scattering are obtained in analytical forms, and their symmetry properties and asymptotic behavior are investigated. The dependences of the first several partial elements of the $S$-matrix on the momentum of the fermion are obtained using numerical methods, and some properties of these dependences are ascertained and discussed.
We consider the fermionic bound states associated with a soliton-antisoliton pair in 1+1 dimensions which have zero energy when the solitons are infinitely far apart. We calculate the energies of these states when the solitons are separated by a finite distance. The energies decay exponentially with the distance between the soliton and antisoliton. When the fermion mass is much larger than the boson mass, the energy simplifies substantially. These energies may be interpreted as a contribution to the effective potential between the soliton and antisoliton. The character of this contribution dep…
Necessary and sufficient conditions are found for any object in $3+1$ dimensions to have integer rather than fractional fermion number. Nontrivial examples include the Jackiw-Rebbi monopole and the already well studied Su-Schrieffer-Heeger soliton, both displaying integer multiples of elementary charges in combinations that normally are forbidden.
We argue that having an odd number of Majorana fermion zero modes on a dynamical point-like soliton signifies an inconsistency in a theory with 3+1 and higher dimensions. We check this statement in a couple of examples in field theory and in string/M theory.
We study effects of backreaction of the fermionic modes localized by the baby Skyrmion in the (2+1)-dimensional Skyrme model. It is shown that there is a tower of fermionic modes of two different types, localized by the soliton, however there is only one fermionic level, which flows from positive to negative value as coupling increases. Considering the strong coupling regime we observe that the coupling of the bosonic field to the fermions may strongly deform the Skyrmion, in particular the regions of negative topological charge density appear.
We investigate a coupled system of a Dirac particle and a pseudoscalar field in the form of a soliton in (1+1) dimensions and find some of its exact solutions numerically. We solve the coupled set of equations self-consistently and non-perturbatively by the use of a numerical method and obtain the bound states of the fermion and the shape of the soliton. That is the shape of the static soliton in this problem is not prescribed and is determined by the equations themselves. This work goes beyond the perturbation theory in which the back reaction of the fermion on soliton is its first order corr…
We have numerically calculated topological andnon-topological solitons in two spatial dimensions with Chern-Simons term. Their quantum stability, as well as that of the Maxwell vortex, is analyzed by means of bounce instantons which involve three-dimensional strings and non-topological solitons.
Formation of fermion bag solitons is an important paradigm in the theory of hadron structure. We report here on our non-perturbative analysis of this phenomenon in the 1+1 dimensional massive Gross-Neveu model, in the large $N$ limit. Our main result is that the extremal static bag configurations are reflectionless, as in the massless Gross-Neveu model. Explicit formulas for the profiles and masses of these solitons are presented. We also present a particular type of self-consistent reflectionless solitons which arise in the massive Nambu-Jona-Lasinio models, in the large-N limit.
Static topologically-nontrivial configurations in sigma-models, for spatial dimension D \geq 2, are unstable. The question addressed here is whether such sigma-model solitons can be stabilized by steady rotation in internal space; that is, rotation in a global SO(2) symmetry. This is the mechanism which stabilizes Q-balls (non-topological solitons). The conclusion is that the Q-mechanism can stabilize topological solitons in D=2 spatial dimensions, but not for D=3.
We show that the degeneracy of topological solitons in the gauged O(3) non-linear sigma model with Chern-Simons term may be removed by chosing a self-interaction potential with symmetry - breaking minima. The topological solitons in the model has energy,charge,flux and angular momentum quantised in each topological sector.
In this paper we study Jackiw-Rebbi model, in which a massless fermion is coupled to the kink of $λϕ^4$ theory through a Yukawa interaction. In the original Jackiw-Rebbi model the soliton is prescribed. However, we are interested in the back-reaction of the fermion on the soliton besides the effect of the soliton on the fermion. Also, as a particular example, we consider a minimal supersymmetric kink model, $\mathcal{N}=1$, in ($1+1$) dimensions. In this case, the bosonic self-coupling, $λ$, and the Yukawa coupling between fermion and soliton, $g$, have specific relation, $g=\sqrt{λ/2}$. As th…
By including potential into the flat metric, we study interaction of sine-Gordon soliton with potentials. We will show numerically that while the soliton-barrier system shows fully classical behaviour, the soliton-well system demonstrates non-classical behaviour. In particular, solitons with low velocities are trapped in the well and emit energy radiation.
We provide a proof of a formula conjectured in \cite{OU93} for some coefficients relevant in the principal vertex operator construction of a simply-laced affine algebra $\gh$. These coefficients are important for the study of the topological charges of the solitons of affine Toda theories, and the construction of representations of non-simply-laced $\gh$ and their associated Toda solitons.
We present a topological Lagrangian field theory that is geometrically similar to the Yang-Mills(-Higgs) Lagrangian, and study the Bogomol'nyi solitons contained within this theory. The topological field theory may provide an example of a dual field theory to Yang-Mills(-Higgs). The existence of a dual field theory to Yang-Mills(-Higgs) was conjectured by Montonen and Olive.
We show that when a Chern-Simons term is added to the action of $SU(N)$ ($N\geq 3$) Yang-Mills theory in 5 dimensions the usual self-dual topological solitons present in the theory necessarily pick up a (topological) electric charge.
The $O(3)$ nonlinear sigma model with its $U(1)$ subgroup gauged, where the gauge field dynamics is solely governed by a Chern-Simons term, admits both topological as well as nontopological self-dual soliton solutions for a specific choice of the potential. It turns out that the topological solitons are infinitely degenerate in any given sector.
The topological charges of the \an affine Toda solitons are considered. A general formula is presented for the number of charges associated with each soliton, as well as an expression for the charges themselves. For each soliton the charges are found to lie in the corresponding fundamental representation, though in general these representations are not filled. Each soliton's topological charges are invariant under cyclic permutations of the simple roots plus the extended root or equivalently, under the action of the Coxeter element (with a particular ordering). Multisolitons are considered and…
We analyze the model of topological fermions (MTF), where charged fermions are treated as soliton solutions of the field equations. In the region far from the sources we find plane waves solutions with the properties of electro-magnetic waves.
We investigate $4+d$ dimensional fermionic models in which the system in codimension-$d$ supports a topologically stable solution, and in which the fermion may be localised to the brane, with power law in 'instanton' backgrounds and exponentially in 'soliton' backgrounds. When the fermions are isoscalars, the mechanism fails, while for isospinor fermions it is successful. As backgrounds we consider instantons of Yang--Mills and sigma models in even codimensions, solitons of sigma models in odd codimensions, as well as solitons of Higgs and Goldstone models in all codimensions.
Two topological issues on membranes in M-theory are studied: (1) Soliton is an important subject in M-theory. Under the framework of obstruction theory with the help from framed links in $S^3$, we give a complete enumeration of topological membrane solitons in a string-admissible target-space of the form a product of Minkowskian space-times, tori, and K3-surfaces. Patching of these solitons and their topological charges are also defined and discussed. (2) Loop order of membrane scatterings is the basis for a perturbative M-theory. We explore this concept with emphases on its distinct features …
In this talk, we give new insight into one of the best-known nonlinear field theories, the Skyrme model. We present some exact relevant solutions coming from different new versions (gauged BPS baby as well as vector BPS Skyrme models) giving rise to topological solitons, and highlighting the BPS character of the theory.
An improved model for the soliton-potential interaction is presented. This model is constructed with a better approximation for adding the potential to the lagrangian through a space-time metric. The results of the model are compared with other models and the differences are discussed.
The noncommutative soliton is characterized by the use of the projection operators in non-commutative space. By using the close relation with the K-theory of $C^*$-algebra, we consider the variations of projection operators along the commutative directions and identify their topological charges. When applied to the string theory, it gives the modification of the brane charges due to tachyon background.
We study non-Abelian solitons of the Bogomol'nyi type in N=2 (d=2+1) supersymmetric Chern-Simons (CS) and Yang-Mills (YM) theory with a generic gauge group. In CS theory, we find topological, non-topological and semi-local (non-)topological vortices of non-Abelian kinds in unbroken, broken and partially broken vacua. We calculate the number of zero-modes using an index theorem and then we apply the moduli matrix formalism to realize the moduli parameters. For the topological solitons we exhaust all the moduli while we study several examples of the non-topological and semi-local solitons. We fi…
We consider the coupling of a single Dirac fermion to the three component unit vector field which appears as an order parameter in the Faddeev model. Classically, the coupling is determined by requiring that it preserves a certain local frame independence. But quantum mechanically the separate left and right chiral fermion number currents suffer from a frame anomaly. We employ this anomaly to compute the fermion number of a knotted soliton. The result coincides with the self-linking number of the soliton. In particular, the anomaly structure of the fermions relates directly to the inherent chi…
Schrödinger field theory with an attractive self-interaction possess non-topological extended solutions with a finite energy in both finite and infinite-volume cases, namely, bright solitons. The analytical form of the solution itself is well-known, though analytical investigation of the quantum fluctuations in this background still requires more thorough investigation, for instance, analytical computation of quantum corrections to this background within the saddle-point approximation. In the present work this gap is filled. Both 2-point Green's function and quantum corrections to the backgrou…
We consider a class of $N=2$ supersymmetric non--unitary theories in two--dimensional Minkowski spacetime which admit classical solitonic solutions. We show how these models can be twisted into a topological sector whose energy--momentum tensor is a BRST commutator. There is an infinite number of degrees of freedom associated to the zero modes of the solitons. As explicit realizations of such models we discuss the BRST quantization of a system of free fields, while in the interacting case we study $N=2$ complexified twisted Toda theories.
We generalize our results${}^1$ on charged topological solitons (CTS) in $4+1$ dimensional $SU(3)$ Yang-Mills-Chern-Simons (YMCS) theory to $SU(N)$. The $SU(N)$ multiplet structure of two classes of solitons associated with the maximal embeddings $SU(2)\times U(1)^{N-2}\subset SU(N)$ and $SO(3)\times U(1)^{N-3}\subset SU(N)$ and the vital role of the $SU(N)$ multiplet of topological currents is clarified. In the case of the first embedding one obtains a $^{N}C_{2}-$plet of CTS. In the second, for $N = 3$, one obtains neutral solitons which, though (classically) spinless, have magnetic moments.…
We investigate a model for a real scalar field in bidimensional space-time, described in terms of a positive semi-definite potential that presents no vacuum state. The system presents topological solutions of the BPS type, with energy density that follows a Lorentzian law. These BPS solutions differ from the standard $\tanh$-type kink, but they also support bosonic and fermionic zero modes.
We examine solitons in theories with heavy fermions. These ``quantum'' solitons differ dramatically from semi-classical (perturbative) solitons because fermion loop effects are important when the Yukawa coupling is strong. We focus on kinks in a $(1+1)$--dimensional $ϕ^4$ theory coupled to fermions; a large-$N$ expansion is employed to treat the Yukawa coupling $g$ nonperturbatively. A local expression for the fermion vacuum energy is derived using the WKB approximation for the Dirac eigenvalues. We find that fermion loop corrections increase the energy of the kink and (for large $g$) decrease…
I consider a class of one-dimensional models where Majorana fermions interact with bosonic fields. Contrary to a more familiar situation where bosonic degrees of freedom are phonons and as such form a slow subsystem, I consider fast bosons. Such situation exists when the bosonic modes appear as collective excitations of interacting electrons as, for instance, in superconductors or carbon nanotubes. It is shown that an entire new class of excitations emerge, namely bound states of solitons and Majorana fermions. The latter bound states are not topological and their existence and number depend o…
We clarify relations among topological solitons in various dimensions: a domain wall, non-Abelian vortex, magnetic monopole and Yang-Mills instanton, together with a (non-Abelian) sine-Gordon soliton, baby Skyrmion (lump) and Skyrmion. We construct a composite configuration consisting of a domain wall, vortex, magnetic monopole and Yang-Mills instanton (wall-vortex-monopole-instanton) using the effective theory technique or moduli approximation. Removing some solitons from such a composite, we obtain all possible composite solitons in the form of solitons within a soliton, including all the pr…
This paper presents work done in collaboration with E. Farhi, J. Goldstone, and A. Lue which is described in full in Ref. [1]. We consider a variant of the standard electroweak theory in which the Higgs sector has been modified so that there is a classically stable weak scale soliton. We explore fermion number violating processes which involve soliton decay. A soliton can decay by tunnelling under the sphaleron barrier or the decay can be collision induced if the energy is sufficient for the barrier to be traversed. We discuss classical solutions to the Minkowski space equations of motion in w…
Solitons of a nonlinear field interacting with fermions often acquire a fermionic number or an electric charge if fermions carry a charge. We show how the same mechanism (chiral anomaly) gives solitons statistical and rotational properties of fermions. These properties are encoded in a geometrical phase, i.e., an imaginary part of a Euclidian action for a nonlinear sigma-model. In the most interesting cases the geometrical phase is non-perturbative and has a form of an integer-valued theta-term.
Bosonization in curved spacetime maps massive Thirring model (self-interacting Dirac fermions) to a generalized sine-Gordon model, both living in $1+1$-dimensional curved spacetime. Applying this duality we have shown that the Thirring model fermion, in non-relativistic limit, gets identified with the soliton of non-linear Scrodinger model with Kerr form of non-linearity. We discuss one particular optical soliton in the latter model and relate it with the Thirring model fermion.
We analyze gravitationally localized states of multiple fermions with high angular momenta, in the formalism introduced by Finster, Smoller, and Yau [Phys Rev. D 59, 104020 (1999)]. We show that the resulting soliton-like wave functions can be naturally interpreted in terms of a form of self-trapping, where the fermions become localized on shells the locations of which correspond to those of `bulges' in the optical geometry created by their own energy density.
Topological excitations in Chern-Simons gauge theories which describe double-layer fractional quantum Hall effct are studied. There are two types of solitons; one is vortex and the other is nontrivial pseudospin textures which are so-called skyrmion or meron. Effective field theory which describes these solitons is derived by duality transformation.
We present and study new mechanism of interaction between the solitons based on the exchange interaction mediated by the localized fermion states. As particular examples, we consider solutions of simple 1+1 dimensional scalar field theories with self-interaction potentials, including sine-Gordon model and the polynomial $ϕ^4$, $ϕ^6$ models, coupled to the Dirac fermions with back-reaction. We discover that there is an additional fermion exchange interaction between the solitons, it leads to the formation of static multi-soliton bound states. Further, we argue that similar mechanisms of formati…
We analyze topological solitons in the noncommutative plane by taking a concrete instance of the quantum Hall system with the SU(N) symmetry, where a soliton is identified with a skyrmion. It is shown that a topological soliton induces an excitation of the electron number density from the ground-state value around it. When a judicious choice of the topological charge density $J_{0}(\mathbf{x})$ is made, it acquires a physical reality as the electron density excitation $Δρ^{\text{cl}}(\mathbf{x})$ around a topological soliton, $Δρ^{\text{cl}}(\mathbf{x})=-J_{0}(% \mathbf{x})$. Hence a noncommut…
We consider a variant of the standard electroweak theory in which the Higgs sector has been modified so that there is a classically stable weak scale soliton. We explore fermion number violating processes which involve soliton decay. A soliton can decay by tunnelling under the sphaleron barrier, or the decay can be collision induced if the energy is sufficient for the barrier to be traversed. We present a classical solution to the Minkowski space equations of motion in which a soliton is kicked over the barrier by an incoming pulse. This pulse corresponds to a quantum coherent state with mean …
We consider different methods of calculating the (fractional) fermion number of solitons based on the heat kernel expansion. We derive a formula for the localized eta function a more systematic version of the derivative expansion for spectral assymmetry and that provides a more systematic version of the derivative expansion for spectral asymmetry and compute the fermion number in a multiflavour extension of the Goldstone-Wilczek model.We also propose an improved expansionof the heat kernelthat allows the tackling ofthe convergence issues and permits an automated computation of the coefficients
We provide complete and self-contained formulas about localization of massless/massive Abelian gauge fields on topological solitons in generic $D$ dimensions via a field dependent gauge kinetic term. The localization takes place when a stabilizer (a scalar field) is condensed in the topological soliton. We show that the localized gauge bosons are massless when the stabilizer is neutral. On the other hand, they become massive for the charged stabilizer as a consequence of interplay between the localization mechanism and the Higgs mechanism. For concreteness, we give two examples in six dimensio…
We show that quantum effects can stabilize a soliton in a model with no soliton at the classical level. The model has a scalar field chirally coupled to a fermion in 1+1 dimensions. We use a formalism that allows us to calculate the exact one loop fermion contribution to the effective energy for a spatially varying scalar background. This energy includes the contribution from counterterms fixed in the perturbative sector of the theory. The resulting energy is therefore finite and unambiguous. A variational search then yields a fermion number one configuration whose energy is below that of a si…
Topological objects resulting from symmetry breakdown may be either stable or metastable depending on the pattern of symmetry breaking. However, if they acquire zero-energy modes of fermions, and in the process acquire non-integer fermionic charge, the metastable configurations also get stabilized. In the case of Dirac fermions the spectrum of the number operator shifts by 1/2. In the case of majorana fermions it becomes useful to assign negative values of fermion number to a finite number of states occupying the zero-energy level, constituting a \textit{majorana pond}. We determine the pariti…
We show that three-band superconductors with broken time reversal symmetry allow magnetic flux-carrying stable topological solitons which have only a slightly higher energy than ordinary vortices. Therefore they can be induced by fluctuations or quenching the system through a phase transition. It can provide an experimental signature of the time reversal symmetry breakdown.
We show that momentum operators of a topological soliton may not commute among themselves when the soliton is associated with the second cohomology $H^2$ of the target space. The commutation relation is proportional to the winding number, taking a constant value within each topological sector. The noncommutativity makes it impossible to specify the momentum of a topological soliton, and induces a Magnus force.
We find static solitons stabilized by quantum corrections in a (1+1)-dimensional model with a scalar field chirally coupled to fermions. This model does not support classical solitons. We compute the renormalized energy functional including one-loop quantum corrections. We carry out a variational search for a configuration that minimizes the energy functional. We find a nontrivial configuration with fermion number whose energy is lower than the same number of free fermions quantized about the translationally invariant vacuum. In order to compute the quantum corrections for a given background f…
Magnetic monopoles and Q-balls are examples of topological and nontopological solitons, respectively. A new soliton state with both topological and nontopological charges is shown to also exist, given a monopole sector with a portal coupling to an additional scalar field $S$ with a global $U(1)$ symmetry. This new state, the Q-monopole-ball, is more stable than an isolated Q-ball made of only $S$ particles, and it could be stable against fissioning into monopoles and free $S$ particles. Stable Q-monopole-balls can contain large magnetic charges, providing a novel nongravitational mechanism for…
The chiral soliton lattice is an array of topological solitons realized as ground states of QCD at finite density under strong magnetic fields or rapid rotation, and chiral magnets with an easy-plane anisotropy. In such cases, topological solitons have negative energy due to topological terms originating from the chiral magnetic or vortical effect and the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, respectively. We study quantum nucleation of topological solitons in the vacuum through quantum tunneling in $2+1$ and $3+1$ dimensions, by using a complex $ϕ^4$ (or the axion) model with a topological term …
The paper, classically, presents a special stable non-topological solitary wave packet solution in $3+1$ dimensions for an extended complex non-linear Klein-Gordon (CNKG) field system. The rest energy of this special solution is minimum among other (close) solutions i.e. it is a soliton solution. The equation of motion and other properties for this special stable solution are reduced to the same original known CNKG system.
We discover a new class of topological solitons. These solitons can exist in a space of infinite volume like, e.g., $\mathbb{R}^n$, but they cannot be placed in any finite volume, because the resulting formal solutions have infinite energy. These objects are, therefore, interpreted as totally incompressible solitons. As a first, particular example we consider (1+1) dimensional kinks in theories with a nonstandard kinetic term or, equivalently, in models with the so-called runaway (or vacummless) potentials. But incompressible solitons exist also in higher dimensions. As specific examples in (3…
