Skyrme Term Research Articles

Cosmic inflation from fluctuating baby-Skyrme brane

In this work, we explore the inflationary dynamics induced by small fluctuations on the Skyrme brane, characterized by a time-dependent perturbative function ϕ̃. In the low-energy regime, the model successfully reproduces standard inflation, with a potential term dictated by the Skyrmion at the brane. Gravity localization is achieved at the brane, and the lowest energy scale is established at the asymptotic boundary. The model demonstrates the capability to emulate standard inflation dynamics, resembling ϕ̃4 potential characteristics under certain conditions. At higher energy regions, the behaviour of ϕ̃ is contingent upon the Skyrme term coupling constant λ, influencing reheating phases. The wave-like nature of fluctuations allows for energy transfer, resulting in a possibly lower reheating temperature. We also discuss the prospect of λ changing sign during inflation, presenting a non-standard coupling dependent on the matter field.

Domain-wall Skyrmion phase in a rapidly rotating QCD matter

Based on the chiral perturbation theory at the leading order, we show a signal of the presence of a new phase in rapidly rotating QCD matter with two flavors, that is a domain-wall Skyrmion phase. Based on the chiral Lagrangian with a Wess-Zumino-Witten (WZW) term responsible for the chiral anomaly and chiral vortical effect, it was shown that the ground state is a chiral soliton lattice (CSL) consisting of a stack of η-solitons in a high density region under rapid rotation. In a large parameter region, a single η-soliton decays into a pair of non-Abelian solitons, each of which carries SU(2)V/U(1) ≃ ℂP1 ≃ S2 moduli as a consequence of the spontaneously broken vector symmetry SU(2)V. In such a non-Abelian CSL, we construct the effective world-volume theory of a single non-Abelian soliton to obtain a d = 2 + 1 dimensional ℂP1 model with a topological term originated from the WZW term. We show that when the chemical potential is larger than a critical value, a topological lump supported by the second homotopy group π2(S2) ≃ ℤ has negative energy and is spontaneously created, implying the domain-wall Skyrmion phase. This lump corresponds in the bulk to a Skyrmion supported by the third homotopy group π3[SU(2)] ≃ ℤ carrying a baryon number. This composite state is called a domain-wall Skyrmion, and is stable even in the absence of the Skyrme term. An analytic formula for the effective nucleon mass in this medium can be written only in terms of the meson’s constants as 42πfπfη/mπ~1.21\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ 4\\sqrt{2}\\pi {f}_{\\pi }{f}_{\\eta }/{m}_{\\pi}\\sim 1.21 $$\\end{document} GeV with the decay constants fπ and fη of the pions and η meson, respectively, and the pion mass mπ. This is reasonably heavier than the nucleon mass in the QCD vacuum.

Pearcey integrals, Stokes lines and exact baryonic layers in the low energy limit of QCD

The first analytic solutions representing baryonic layers living at finite baryon density within a constant magnetic field in the gauged Skyrme model are constructed. A remarkable feature of these configurations is that, if the Skyrme term is neglected, then these baryonic layers in the constant magnetic background cannot be found analytically and their energies grow very fast with the magnetic field. On the other hand, if the Skyrme term is taken into account, the field equations can be solved analytically and the corresponding solutions have a smooth limit for large magnetic fields. Thus, the Skyrme term discloses the universal character of these configurations living at finite Baryon density in a constant magnetic field. The classical gran-canonical partition function of these configurations can be expressed explicitly in terms of the Pearcey integral. This fact allows us to determine analytically the Stokes lines of the partition function and the corresponding dependence on the baryonic chemical potential as well as on the external magnetic field. In this way, we can determine various critical curves in the (μB−Bext) plane which separates different physical behaviors. These families of inhomogeneous baryonic condensates can be also dressed with chiral conformal excitations of the solutions representing modulations of the layers themselves. Some physical consequences are analyzed.

A baby–Skyrme model with anisotropic DM interaction: Compact skyrmions revisited

We consider a baby–Skyrme model with Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (DMI) and two types of potential terms. The model has a close connection with the vacuum functional of fermions coupled with O(3) nonlinear n-fields and with a constant SU(2) gauge background. The energy functional is derived from the heat-kernel expansion for the fermion determinant. The model possesses normal skyrmions with topological charge Q=1. The restricted version of the model also includes both the weak-compacton case (at the boundary, not continuously differentiable) and genuine-compacton case (continuously differentiable). The model consists of only the Skyrme term, and the DMI provides soliton solutions that are known as skyrmions without any potential. The BPS equation in the supersymmetric soliton models implies that the impurity coupling is closely related to the DMI. Therefore, the effect of an exponentially localized DMI is also studied in the present model.

Infinite conformal symmetry and emergent chiral fields of topologically nontrivial configurations: From Yang-Mills-Higgs theory to the Skyrme model

In this manuscript, we discuss a remarkable phenomenon concerning nonlinear and nonintegrable field theories in ($3+1$) dimensions, living at finite density and possessing nontrivial topological charges and non-Abelian internal symmetries (both local and global). With suitable types of Ans\"atze, one can construct infinite-dimensional families of analytic solutions with nonvanishing topological charges (representing the baryonic number) labeled by both two integer numbers and by free scalar fields in ($1+1$) dimensions. These exact configurations represent ($3+1$)-dimensional topological solitons hosting ($1+1$)-dimensional chiral modes localized at the energy density peaks. First, we analyze the Yang-Mills-Higgs model, in which the fields depend on all the space-time coordinates (to keep alive the topological Chern-Simons charge), but in such a way to reduce the equations system to the field equations of two-dimensional free massless chiral scalar fields. Then, we move to the nonlinear sigma model, showing that a suitable Ansatz reduces the field equations to the one of a two-dimensional free massless scalar field. Then, we discuss the Skyrme model concluding that the inclusion of the Skyrme term gives rise to a chiral two-dimensional free massless scalar field (instead of a free massless field in two dimensions as in the nonlinear sigma model) describing analytically spatially modulated hadronic layers and tubes. The comparison of the present approach both with the instanton-dyon liquid approach and with lattice QCD is shortly outlined.

BPS Skyrme submodels of the five-dimensional Skyrme model

In this paper, we search for the BPS skyrmions in some BPS submodels of the generalized Skyrme model in five-dimensional spacetime using the BPS Lagrangian method. We focus on the static solutions of the Bogomolny’s equations and their corresponding energies with topological charge B > 0 is an integer. We consider two main cases based on the symmetry of the effective Lagrangian of the BPS submodels, i.e. the spherically symmetric and non-spherically symmetric cases. For the spherically symmetric case, we find two BPS submodels. The first BPS submodels consist of a potential term and a term proportional to the square of the topological current. The second BPS submodels consist of only the Skyrme term. The second BPS submodel has BPS skyrmions with the same topological charge B > 1, but with different energies, that we shall call “topological degenerate” BPS skyrmions. It also has the usual BPS skyrmions with equal energies, if the topological charge is a prime number. Another interesting feature of the BPS skyrmions, with B > 1, in this BPS submodel, is that these BPS skyrmions have non-zero pressures in the angular direction. For the non-spherically symmetric case, there is only one BPS submodel, which is similar to the first BPS submodel in the spherically symmetric case. We find that the BPS skyrmions depend on a constant k and for a particular value of k we obtain the BPS skyrmions of the first BPS submodel in the spherically symmetric case. The total static energy and the topological charge of these BPS skyrmions also depend on this constant. We also show that all the results found in this paper satisfy the full field equations of motions of the corresponding BPS submodels.

The emergence of electroweak Skyrmions through Higgs bosons

Skyrmions are extended field configurations, initially proposed to describe baryons as topological solitons in an effective field theory of mesons. We investigate and confirm the existence of skyrmions within the electroweak sector of the Standard Model and study their properties. We find that the interplay of the electroweak sector with a dynamical Higgs field and the Skyrme term leads to a non-trivial vacuum structure with the skyrmion and perturbative vacuum sectors separated by a finite energy barrier. We identify dimension-8 operators that stabilise the electroweak skyrmion as a spatially localised soliton field configuration with finite size. Such operators are induced generically by a wide class of UV models. To calculate the skyrmion energy and radius we use a neural network method. Electroweak skyrmions are non-topological solitons but are exponentially long lived, and we find that the electroweak skyrmion is a viable dark matter candidate. While the skyrmion production cross section at collider experiments is suppressed, measuring the size of the Skyrme term in multi-Higgs-production processes at high-energy colliders is a promising avenue to probe the existence of electroweak skyrmions.

Realistic classical binding energies in the \u03c9-Skyrme model

An omega-meson extension of the Skyrme model — without the Skyrme term but including the pion mass — first considered by Adkins and Nappi is studied in detail for baryon numbers 1 to 8. The static problem is reformulated as a constrained energy minimisation problem within a natural geometric framework and studied analytically on compact domains, and numerically on Euclidean space. Using a constrained second-order Newton flow algorithm, classical energy minimisers are constructed for various values of the omegapion coupling. At high coupling, these Skyrmion solutions are qualitatively similar to the Skyrmions of the standard Skyrme model with massless pions. At sufficiently low coupling, they show similarities with those in the lightly bound Skyrme model: the Skyrmions of low baryon number dissociate into lightly bound clusters of distinct 1-Skyrmions, and the classical binding energies for baryon numbers 2 through 8 have realistic values.

The dielectric Skyrme model

We consider a version of the Skyrme model where both the kinetic term and the Skyrme term are multiplied by field-dependent coupling functions. For suitable choices, this “dielectric Skyrme model” has static solutions saturating the pertinent topological bound in the sector of baryon number (or topological charge) B=±1 but not for higher |B|. This implies that higher charge field configurations are unbound, and loosely bound higher skyrmions can be achieved by small deformations of this dielectric Skyrme model. We provide a simple and explicit example for this possibility.Further, we show that the |B|=1 BPS sector continues to exist for certain generalizations of the model like, for instance, after its coupling to a specific version of the BPS Skyrme model, i.e., the addition of the sextic term and a particular potential.

Skyrme model from 6d [formula omitted] theory

We consider 5d Yang–Mills theory with a compact ADE-type gauge group G on R3,1×I, where I is an interval. The maximally supersymmetric extension of this model appears after compactification on S1 of 6d N=(2,0) superconformal field theory on R3,1×S22, where S22≅I×S1 is a two-sphere with two punctures. In the low-energy limit, when the length of I becomes small, the 5d Yang–Mills theory reduces to a nonlinear sigma model on R3,1 with the Lie group G as its target space. It contains an infinite tower of interacting fields whose leading term in the infrared is the four-derivative Skyrme term. A maximally supersymmetric generalization leading to a hyper-Kähler sigma-model target space is briefly discussed.

Higher-order Skyrme hair of black holes

Higher-order derivative terms are considered as replacement for the Skyrme term in an Einstein-Skyrme-like model in order to pinpoint which properties are necessary for a black hole to possess stable static scalar hair. We find two new models able to support stable black hole hair in the limit of the Skyrme term being turned off. They contain 8 and 12 derivatives, respectively, and are roughly the Skyrme-term squared and the so-called BPS-Skyrme-term squared. In the twelfth-order model we find that the lower branches, which are normally unstable, become stable in the limit where the Skyrme term is turned off. We check this claim with a linear stability analysis. Finally, we find for a certain range of the gravitational coupling and horizon radius, that the twelfth-order model contains 4 solutions as opposed to 2. More surprisingly, the lowest part of the would-be unstable branch turns out to be the stable one of the 4 solutions.

Hopf solitons on compact manifolds

Hopf solitons in the Skyrme-Faddeev system on R3 typically have a complicated structure, in particular when the Hopf number Q is large. By contrast, if we work on a compact 3-manifold M, and the energy functional consists only of the Skyrme term (the strong-coupling limit), then the picture simplifies. There is a topological lower bound E ≥ Q on the energy, and the local minima of E can look simple even for large Q. The aim here is to describe and investigate some of these solutions, when M is S3, T3, or S2 × S1. In addition, we review the more elementary baby-Skyrme system, with M being S2 or T2.

Crystal structures in generalized Skyrme model

We investigate the properties of triply-periodic Skyrme crystals in the generalized Skyrme model $\mathcal{L}_6 + \mathcal{L}_4 + \mathcal{L}_2+ \mathcal{L}_0$ with higher-derivative terms up to sixth order. Three different symmetry breaking potential terms $\mathcal{L}_0$ are considered, the generalized pion mass term, double vacuum potential and mixed potential. Various scenario of phase transitions from the low density phase to the high density phase are examined for different choices of the parameters of the model. In particular, we investigated limiting behavior of the Skyrme crystals in the truncated submodel without the Skyrme term $\mathcal{L}_4$ and/or without the $\mathcal{L}_2$ term. We show that the Skyrme crystal may exist in the pure $\mathcal{L}_4$ and $\mathcal{L}_6$ models and investigated the phase structure of these solutions. Considering the near-BPS submodel, we found that there are indications of the phase transition from a low density quasi-liquid phase to the high density symmetric phase of the Skyrmionic matter.

Generalized Skyrmions and hairy black holes in asymptoticallyAdS4spacetime

We investigate the properties of spherically symmetric black hole solutions in the generalized Einstein-Skyrme model theory in four-dimensional asymptotically anti-de Sitter space-time. The dependencies of the Skyrmion fields on the cosmological constant and on the strength of the effective gravitational coupling are examined. We show that the increase of the absolute value of the cosmological constant qualitatively yields the same effect as increasing of the effective gravitational coupling. We confirm that, similar to the model in the asymptotically flat space-time, a necessary condition for the existence of black holes with Skyrmionic hair is the inclusion of the Skyrme term.

Topological solitons in the supersymmetric Skyrme model

A supersymmetric extension of the Skyrme model was obtained recently, which consists of only the Skyrme term in the Nambu-Goldstone (pion) sector complemented by the same number of quasi-Nambu-Goldstone bosons. Scherk-Schwarz dimensional reduction yields a kinetic term in three or lower dimensions and a potential term in two dimensions, preserving supersymmetry. Euclidean solitons (instantons) are constructed in the supersymmetric Skyrme model. In four dimensions, the soliton is an instanton first found by Speight. Scherk-Schwarz dimensional reduction is then performed once to get a 3-dimensional theory in which a 3d Skyrmion-instanton is found and then once more to get a 2d theory in which a 2d vortex-instanton is obtained. Although the last one is a global vortex it has finite action in contrast to conventional theory. All of them are non-BPS states breaking all supersymmetries.

Black hole Skyrmion in a generalized Skyrme model

We study a Skyrme-like model with the Skyrme term and a sixth-order derivative term as higher-order terms, coupled to gravity and we construct Schwarzschild black hole Skyrme hair. We find, surprisingly, that the sixth-order derivative term alone cannot stabilize the black hole hair solutions; the Skyrme term with a large enough coefficient is a necessity.

Hairy black holes in the general Skyrme model

We study the existence of hairy black holes in the generalized Einstein-Skyrme model. It is proven that in the BPS model limit there are no hairy black hole solutions, although the model admits gravitating (and flat space) solitons. Furthermore, we find strong evidence that a necessary condition for the existence of black holes with Skyrmionic hair is the inclusion of the Skyrme term $\mathcal{L}_4$. As an example, we show that there are no hairy black holes in the $\mathcal{L}_2+\mathcal{L}_6+\mathcal{L}_0$ model and present a new kind of black hole solutions with compact Skyrmion hair in the $\mathcal{L}_4+\mathcal{L}_6+\mathcal{L}_0$ model.

Electroweak-Skyrmion as topological dark matter

We show the existence of a nontrivial topological configuration of the Higgs field in the Standard Model with the Skyrme term. It is shown that the current upper bound of the mass of the topological object is about 34 TeV. We discuss the impact of the existence of the topological object on cosmology.

Near-BPS Skyrmions: Constant baryon density

The Skyrme Model seems unable to reproduce the small binding energy in nuclei. It was realized recently that near-BPS Skyrme Models may be more appropriate in that regard since their solutions nearly saturate the Bogomol'nyi bound resulting therefore in a nuclear mass that is almost proportional to the baryon number A. We are interested in a class of such models which include terms up to order six in derivatives of the pion fields in the regime where the nonlinear σ and Skyrme terms are assumed to be relatively small. We demonstrate that with a proper choice of potential, one can obtain constant baryon density configurations, as opposed to the usual shell-like configurations emerging from the Skyrme Model. This four-parameter model also lead to a very good agreement of the binding energy per nucleon B/A with respect to experimental data.

A supersymmetric Skyrme model

Construction of a supersymmetric extension of the Skyrme term was a long-standing problem because of the auxiliary field problem; that is, the auxiliary field may propagate and cannot be eliminated, and the problem of having fourth-order time derivative terms. In this paper, we construct for the first time a supersymmetric extension of the Skyrme term in four spacetime dimensions, in the manifestly supersymmetric superfield formalism that does not suffer from the auxiliary field problem. Chiral symmetry breaking in supersymmetric theories results not only in Nambu-Goldstone (NG) bosons (pions) but also in the same number of quasi-NG bosons so that the low-energy theory is described by an SL(N,C)-valued matrix field instead of SU(N) for NG bosons. The solution of auxiliary fields is trivial on the canonical branch of the auxiliary field equation, in which case our model results in a fourth-order derivative term that is not the Skyrme term. For the case of SL(2,C), we find explicitly a nontrivial solution to the algebraic auxiliary field equations that we call a non-canonical branch, which when substituted back into the Lagrangian gives a Skyrme-like model. If we restrict to a submanifold, where quasi-NG bosons are turned off, which is tantamount to restricting the Skyrme field to SU(2), then the fourth-order derivative term reduces exactly to the standard Skyrme term. Our model is the first example of a nontrivial auxiliary field solution in a multi-component model.