Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I General Properties of Fields; Scalars and Gauge Fields
- Part II Solitons and Topology; Non-Abelian Theory
- 20 Kink Solutions in ϕ4 and Sine-Gordon, Domain Walls and Topology
- 21 The Skyrmion Scalar Field Solution and Topology
- 22 Field Theory Solitons for Condensed Matter: The XY and Rotor Model, Spins, Superconductivity, and the KT Transition
- 23 Radiation of a Classical Scalar Field: The Heisenberg Model
- 24 Derrick’s Theorem, Bogomolnyi Bound, theAbelian-Higgs System, andSymmetryBreaking
- 25 The Nielsen-Olesen Vortex, Topology and Applications
- 26 Non-Abelian Gauge Theory and the Yang–Mills Equation
- 27 The Dirac Monopole and Dirac Quantization
- 28 The ’t Hooft–Polyakov Monopole Solution and Topology
- 29 The BPST-’t Hooft Instanton Solution and Topology
- 30 General Topology and Reduction on an Ansatz
- 31 Other Soliton Types. Nontopological Solitons: Q-Balls; Unstable Solitons: Sphalerons
- 32 Moduli Space; Soliton Scattering in Moduli Space Approximation; Collective Coordinates
- Part III Other Spins or Statistics; General Relativity
- References
- Index
27 - The Dirac Monopole and Dirac Quantization
from Part II - Solitons and Topology; Non-Abelian Theory
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 March 2019
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I General Properties of Fields; Scalars and Gauge Fields
- Part II Solitons and Topology; Non-Abelian Theory
- 20 Kink Solutions in ϕ4 and Sine-Gordon, Domain Walls and Topology
- 21 The Skyrmion Scalar Field Solution and Topology
- 22 Field Theory Solitons for Condensed Matter: The XY and Rotor Model, Spins, Superconductivity, and the KT Transition
- 23 Radiation of a Classical Scalar Field: The Heisenberg Model
- 24 Derrick’s Theorem, Bogomolnyi Bound, theAbelian-Higgs System, andSymmetryBreaking
- 25 The Nielsen-Olesen Vortex, Topology and Applications
- 26 Non-Abelian Gauge Theory and the Yang–Mills Equation
- 27 The Dirac Monopole and Dirac Quantization
- 28 The ’t Hooft–Polyakov Monopole Solution and Topology
- 29 The BPST-’t Hooft Instanton Solution and Topology
- 30 General Topology and Reduction on an Ansatz
- 31 Other Soliton Types. Nontopological Solitons: Q-Balls; Unstable Solitons: Sphalerons
- 32 Moduli Space; Soliton Scattering in Moduli Space Approximation; Collective Coordinates
- Part III Other Spins or Statistics; General Relativity
- References
- Index
Summary
We define the Dirac monopole as a simple consequence of extending Maxwell duality to the Maxwell equations with sources, and we show that the resulting gauge fields are only defined on patches. We write formulas in terms of p-form language, and define the magnetic charge in terms of the gauge fields on patches. Then, from the quantization of the first Chern number, a topological number, we obtain Dirac quantization for the product of electric and magnetic charges. One obtains an unphysical Dirac string singularity, and its unphysical nature leads again to Dirac quantization. Finally, semiclassical nonrelativistic considerations also lead to the same Dirac quantization.
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- Information
- Classical Field Theory , pp. 244 - 255Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019