Resolution of SU(2) monopole singularities by oxidation

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how SU(2) monopole singularities can be resolved by lifting them to higher dimensions through oxidation, linking monopoles to instantons and providing a method to cure singularities.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to resolve monopole singularities by relating them to instantons via singular dimensional reduction and oxidation.

Findings

Monopole singularities originate from dimensional reduction of instantons.

Oxidation of monopoles can eliminate singularities.

The scheme applies to various monopole solutions.

Abstract

We show how "colored" SU(2) BPS monopoles (that is: SU(2) monopoles satisfying the Bogomol'nyi equation whose Higgs field and magnetic charge vanish at infinity and which are singular at the origin) can be obtained from the BPST instanton by a singular dimensional reduction, explaining the origin of the singularity and implying that the singularity can be cured by the oxidation of the solution. We study the oxidation of other monopole solutions in this scheme.