Hopf solitons in the Nicole model

Gillard, M.; Sutcliffe, P.M.

Abstract

The Nicole model is a conformal field theory in a three-dimensional space. It has topological soliton solutions classified by the integer-valued Hopf charge, and all currently known solitons are axially symmetric. A volume-preserving flow is used to construct soliton solutions numerically for all Hopf charges from 1 to 8. It is found that the known axially symmetric solutions are unstable for Hopf charges greater than 2 and new lower energy solutions are obtained that include knots and links. A comparison with the Skyrme–Faddeev model suggests many universal features, though there are some differences in the link types obtained in the two theories.

Citation

Gillard, M., & Sutcliffe, P. (2010). Hopf solitons in the Nicole model. Journal of Mathematical Physics, 51(12), Article 122305. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3525805

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2010
• Deposit Date: Feb 3, 2011
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 9, 2012
• Journal: Journal of Mathematical Physics
• Print ISSN: 0022-2488
• Electronic ISSN: 1089-7658
• Publisher: American Institute of Physics
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 51
• Issue: 12
• Article Number: 122305
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3525805
• Keywords: Conformal field theory, Skyrmions, Topology.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1544159