Min-max theory for the Yang-Mills-Higgs equations (Q1070604)

The existence of solutions for the Yang-Mills-Higgs equations on \({\mathbb{R}}^ 3\) is studied. Some of the main results are: 1. The Yang- Mills functional can be considered as a smooth SO(3)-invariant function on a Fréchet space B, and B is homotopic to the space of smooth maps from \(S^ 2\) to \(S^ 2\). 2. For each \(n\in {\mathbb{Z}}\) the Yang-Mills functional has an infinite number of (gauge inequivalent) solutions in \(B_ n\), the subspace homotopic to the space of maps from \(S^ 2\) to \(S^ 2\) with degree n (monopole sector).