Existence of energy minimizers as stable knotted solitons in the Faddeev model (Q1885615)

The authors developed an existence theory for Faddeev's knots characterized by the Hopf invariant. In the years 1997--2002 L. D. Faddeev, A. J. Niemi , R. A. Battie and P.M. Sutcliffe by computer simulation have shown that a ring-shaped (unknotted) Hopf charge one soliton exists as the energy minimizer of a relativistic quantum field theory model proposed in 1979 by Faddeev. Faddeev proposed the model with solitons localized around one-dimensional contours of string type: circle, knot and link. Their existence was certified by the computer simulation. In Faddeev's talk on the Beijing Congress (2002) the results of simulation of the knotted vortices on powerful computers for the \(3+1\)-dimensional space-tine were demonstrated. Moreover, the existence of tre-foil vortice was declared: it is the simplest example of toric knot obtained by rotation around the torus in both directions. But the rigorous proof of these facts did not exist. The aim of the paper under review is to fill up some of gaps. In sec. 2, devoted to the statement of the problem, the review of the Faddeev model and its topological characterization is given. In sec. 3 the integral representation of the Hopf invariant and the justification of the fact that the integral may assume only integer values are given. Some invariant property of this integral are considered. Sec. 4 is devoted to the problem of existence of knot-like solitons as the energy-minimizing configurations in the Faddeev quantum field theory model. It is shown that for the bounded underlying domain an energy minimizer exists among any topological class. In sec.5 the important sublinear equality for energy and Hopf invariant is obtained. The explanation of the behavior for locally clustered solitons configurations with growth of Hopf invariants is given. The sec. 6 is devoted to the study of convergence and associated problems over entire space \(\mathbb R^3\) for an minimizing sequence. In sec. 7 the examples of applications of mentioned above results are considered. Firstly, by using sublinear energy growth law, the authors show that there exists an unknown infinite subset \(\mathbb S \in \mathbb Z\) so that there exists a solution for the energy minimization problem over each topological class defined by any number in \(\mathbb S\). Then, the application of the results to the Skyrme model is given. Besides, some technical procedures necessary for the proofs of sec. 6 are worked. The energy additivity relation is obtained. The authors note, that the complexity of the problem has not allowed to study the geometry of the obtained energy minimizers or the question of how knotted these solitons are. In conclusion the short discussion of the results is given where the importance of sublinear asymptotic estimate is underlined.