Moduli spaces of lumps on real projective space

Abstract

Harmonic maps that minimise the Dirichlet energy in their homotopy classes are known as lumps. Lump solutions on real projective space are explicitly given by rational maps subject to a certain symmetry requirement. This has consequences for the behaviour of lumps and their symmetries. An interesting feature is that the moduli space of charge three lumps is a 7-dimensional manifold of cohomogeneity one which can be described as a one-parameter family of symmetry orbits of D2 symmetric maps. In this paper, we discuss the charge three moduli spaces of lumps from two perspectives: discrete symmetries of lumps and the Riemann-Hurwitz formula. We then calculate the metric and find explicit formulas for various geometric quantities. We also discuss the implications for lump decay.