Solitons with continuous symmetries

Abstract

In this thesis, we develop a framework for classifying symmetric points on moduli spaces using representation theory. We utilize this framework in a few case studies, but it has applications well beyond these cases.

As a demonstration of the power of this framework, we use it to study various symmetric solitons: instantons as well as hyperbolic, singular, and Euclidean monopoles. Examples of these objects are hard to come by due to non-linear constraints. However, by applying this framework, we introduce a linear constraint, whose solution greatly simplifies the non-linear constraints. This simplification not only allows us to easily find a plethora of novel examples of these solitons, it also provides a framework for classifying such symmetric objects. As an example, by applying this method, we prove that the basic instanton is essentially the only instanton with two particular kinds of conformal symmetry.

Additionally, we study the symmetry breaking of monopoles, a part of their topological classification. We prove a straightforward method for determining the symmetry breaking of a monopole and explicitly identify the symmetry breaking for all Lie groups with classical, simply Lie algebras. We also identify methods for doing the same for the exceptional simple Lie groups.