Beyond Coleman's Instantons

TL;DR

This paper explores the extension of Coleman's instanton theorem to singular solutions with finite action, revealing the existence of non-$O(4)$-symmetric instantons that could challenge the uniqueness of symmetric solutions.

Contribution

It demonstrates the possibility of finite-action singular instantons and analyzes non-trivial anisotropic deformations, suggesting non-$O(4)$-symmetric solutions may have comparable or lower action.

Findings

Finite-action singular instantons can exist with specific potential forms.

Deformed solutions can have the same action as symmetric instantons up to second order.

Non-$O(4)$-symmetric instantons may have lower action than symmetric ones.

Abstract

In the absence of gravity, Coleman's theorem states that the $O(4)$-symmetric instanton solution, which is regular at the origin and exponentially decays at infinity, gives the lowest action. Perturbatively, this implies that any small deformation from $O(4)$-symmetry gives a larger action. In this letter we investigate the possibility of extending this theorem to the situation where the $O(4)$-symmetric instanton is singular, provided that the action is finite. In particular, we show a general form of the potential around the origin, which realizes a singular instanton with finite action. We then discuss a concrete example in which this situation is realized, and analyze non-trivial anisotropic deformations around the solution perturbatively. Intriguingly, in contrast to the case of Coleman's instantons, we find that there exists a deformed solution that has the same action as the one for the $O(4)$-symmetric solution up to the second order in perturbation. Our result implies that there exist non-$O(4)$-symmetric solutions with finite action beyond Coleman's instantons, and gives rise to the possibility of the existence of a non-$O(4)$-symmetric instanton with a lower action.