Electron as soliton: Nonlinear theory of dielectric polarization

TL;DR

This paper introduces a nonlinear dielectric polarization theory where solitons, representing electrons and holes with quantized charge, are stable solutions, providing a novel perspective on charge carriers in dielectrics.

Contribution

The paper develops a nonlinear polarization model with solitons that can be interpreted as electrons and holes, offering a new theoretical framework for charge quantization in dielectrics.

Findings

Elementary solitons are numerically shown to be stable.

Solitons have quantized electric charge.

A soliton-antisoliton pair models an exciton.

Abstract

We describe a class of theories of dielectric polarization and a species of solitons in these theories. The solitons, made entirely out of the polarization field, have quantized values of the electric charge and can be interpreted as electrons and holes. A soliton-antisoliton pair is an exciton. We present numerical evidence that the elementary soliton is stable.