't Hooft-Polyakov monopoles in non-Hermitian quantum field theory

TL;DR

This paper constructs exact monopole solutions in a non-Hermitian SU(2) gauge theory, revealing novel mass behaviors and exceptional point phenomena, extending classical monopole concepts into non-Hermitian quantum field frameworks.

Contribution

It introduces exact monopole solutions in a non-Hermitian setting with novel mass relations and exceptional point analysis, expanding the understanding of topological solitons in non-Hermitian theories.

Findings

Two monopole masses saturate the energy bound and differ from the Hermitian case.

Identification of three parameter space regions with distinct monopole mass behaviors.

Existence of a self-dual point where gauge and monopole masses are equal.

Abstract

We construct exact t Hooft-Polyakov monopole solutions in a non-Hermitian field theory with local non-Abelian SU(2) gauge symmetry and a modified antilinear CPT symmetry. The solutions are obtained in a fourfold Bogomolny-Prasad-Sommerfield scaling limit giving rise to two different types of monopole masses that saturate the lower energy bound. These two masses only coincide in the Hermitian limit and in the limit in which the symmetry breaking vacuum tends to the trivial symmetry preserving vacuum. In the two theories corresponding to the two known Dyson maps these two masses are exchanged, unlike the Higgs and the gauge masses, which remain the same in both theories. We identify three separate regions in parameter space bounded by different types of exceptional points. In the first region the monopole masses are finite and tend both to zero at the boundary exceptional point, in the second the monopole masses become complex and in the third only one of the monopole masses becomes zero at the boundary exceptional point, whereas the other tends to infinity. We find a self-dual point in parameter space at which the gauge mass becomes exactly identical to the monopole mass.