Scattering off of an instanton (Q1079832)

From MaRDI portal
scientific article
Language Label Description Also known as
English
Scattering off of an instanton
scientific article

    Statements

    Scattering off of an instanton (English)
    0 references
    0 references
    0 references
    1986
    0 references
    We consider the scattering of a classical colored particle off an instanton. That is, we investigate Wong's equations (or equivalently, the Kaluza-Klein geodesic equations) for a color SU(2) particle under the influence of a Euclidean instanton. We solve the equations in the limit in which the instanton becomes singular. Our main result is that particles with head-on trajectories scatter off the instanton with a scattering angle of \(\pi\) /3. This angle is independent of the magnitude of the color charge and velocity of the particle as long as both are nonzero. The plane in which the scattering takes place is determined by the particle's initial position and color charge. We also solve the equations for the geodesics for the corresponding (singular) Kaluza-Klein metric on \(S^ 7\).
    0 references
    0 references
    0 references
    0 references
    0 references
    colored particle
    0 references
    Wong's equations
    0 references
    Kaluza-Klein geodesic equations
    0 references
    scattering angle
    0 references
    Kaluza-Klein metric
    0 references