Sphalerons, spectral flow, and anomalies

Frans R. Klinkhamer, Christian Rupp
2003 Journal of Mathematical Physics  
The topology of configuration space may be responsible in part for the existence of sphalerons. Here, sphalerons are defined to be static but unstable finite-energy solutions of the classical field equations. Another manifestation of the nontrivial topology of configuration space is the phenomenon of spectral flow for the eigenvalues of the Dirac Hamiltonian. The spectral flow, in turn, is related to the possible existence of anomalies. In this review, the interconnection of these topics is
more » ... strated for three particular sphalerons of SU(2) Yang-Mills-Higgs theory.
doi:10.1063/1.1590420 fatcat:22i2r367rvg5dnvjd55wndlbb4