Related papers: Skyrme fields, multi-instantons and the $SU(\infty…

We construct a topological quantum field theory based on the moduli space of $\mathrm{Spin}(7)$-instantons on 8-dimensional manifolds. Using the Mathai-Quillen formalism, we derive the action of the theory in purely geometric terms, which…

We consider classical gauge theory with spontaneous symmetry breaking on a principal bundle $P\to X$ whose structure group $G$ is reducible to a closed subgroup $H$, and sections of the quotient bundle $P/H\to X$ are treated as classical…

We consider 5d Yang-Mills-Higgs theory with a compact ADE-type gauge group $G$ and one adjoint scalar field on $\mathbb{R}^{3,1}\times\mathbb{R}_+$, where $\mathbb{R}_+=[0,\infty)$ is the half-line. The maximally supersymmetric extension of…

Globally regular (ie. asymptotically flat and regular interior), spherically symmetric and localised ("particle-like") solutions of the coupled Einstein Yang-Mills (EYM) equations with gauge group SU(2) have been known for more than 20…

It has been recently proposed a modification of the Skyrme model which admits an exact self-dual sector by the introduction of six scalar fields assembled in a symmetric, positive and invertible 3x3 matrix h. In this paper we study soft…

In this work, taking advantage of the Generalized Hedgehog Ansatz, we construct new self-gravitating solitons in a cavity with mirror-like boundary conditions for the SU(2) Non-linear Sigma Model and Skyrme model. For spherically symmetric…

We establish simple formulae for computing Finkelstein-Rubinstein signs for Skyrme fields generated in two ways: from instanton ADHM data, and from rational maps. This may be used to compute homotopy classes of general loops in the…

We compute boundary three-point functions involving two scalars and a gauge field of arbitrary spin in the AdS vacuum of Vasiliev's higher spin gravity, for any deformation parameter \lambda. In the process, we develop tools for extracting…

Exact analytic solutions of the Skyrme model defined on a spherically symmetric $R^{(1,1)} \times S^2$ geometry, chosen to mimic finite volume effects, are presented. The static and spherically symmetric configurations have non-trivial…

We review spherical and inhomogeneous analytic solutions of the field equations of Einstein and of scalar-tensor gravity, including Brans-Dicke theory, non-minimally (possibly conformally) coupled scalar fields, Horndeski, and beyond…

We lift the recently proposed theories of higher-spin self-dual Yang-Mills (SDYM) and gravity (SDGR) to the twistor space. We find that the most natural room for the twistor formulation of these theories is not in the projective, but in the…

This is the Ph.D. dissertation of the author. The project has been motivated by the conjecture that the Hopkins-Miller tmf spectrum can be described in terms of `spaces' of conformal field theories. In this dissertation, spaces of field…

Taking Euclidean signature space-time with its local Spin(4)=SU(2)xSU(2) group of space-time symmetries as fundamental, one can consistently gauge one SU(2) factor to get a chiral spin connection formulation of general relativity, the other…

Higher spin gravity is an interesting toy model of stringy geometry. Particularly intriguing is the presence of higher spin gauge transformations that redefine notions of invariance in gravity: the existence of event horizons and…

We propose a generalization of the BPS Skyrme model for simple compact Lie groups $G$ that leads to Hermitian symmetric spaces. In such a theory, the Skyrme field takes its values in $G$, while the remaining fields correspond to the entries…

We construct and classify $SU(3)$-invariant primitive Hermitian Yang-Mills connections and $Sp(2)$-instantons with gauge groups $S = S^1$ and $S = SO(3)$ over the Calabi manifold $X = T^*CP^2$, the unique non-flat, complete,…

We show that one can reduce the coupled system of seven field equations of the (3+1)-dimensional gauged Skyrme model to the Heun equation (which, for suitable choices of the parameters, can be further reduced to the Whittaker-Hill equation)…

Magnetic skyrmions are localized nanometric spin textures with quantized winding numbers as the topological invariant. Rapidly increasing attention has been paid to the investigations of skyrmions since their experimental discovery in 2009,…

Using bi-spinor fields we write the pseudo-scalar and bi-spinor fields that are characterized by the field functions of coordinates of several particles, namely multi-particle fields. By applying the quantization procedure to these…

After dimensional reduction the stationary spherically symmetric sector of Einstein's gravity is identified with an SL(2,R)/SO(2) Sigma model coupled to a one dimensional gravitational remnant. The space of classical solutions consists of a…