English

Classical Gauge Vacua as Knots

High Energy Physics - Theory 2009-11-07 v1

Abstract

The four dimensional O(3) non-linear sigma model introduced by Faddeev and Niemi, with a Skyrme-like higher order term to stabilise static knot solutions classified by the Hopf invariant, can be rewritten in terms of the complex two-component CP1 variables. A further rewriting of these variables in terms of SU(2) curvature free gauge fields is performed. This leads us to interpret SU(2) pure gauge vacuum configurations, in a particular maximal abelian gauge, in terms of knots with the Hopf invariant equal to the winding number of the gauge configuration.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.hep-th/0105141,
  title  = {Classical Gauge Vacua as Knots},
  author = {Pierre van Baal and Andreas Wipf},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:hep-th/0105141},
  year   = {2009}
}

Comments

LaTeX, 5 pages, no figures

R2 v1 2026-07-22T15:04:10.534Z