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# Slowly rotating, compact fluid sources embedded in Kerr empty space-time

## 1 The fluid source and Darmois junction conditions with empty space-time

Consider the well known spherically static perfect fluid source which is represented here by the metric:

$$d\sigma _S^2=e^{2\lambda }d\eta ^2e^{2\mu }d\xi ^2\xi ^2d\theta ^2\xi ^2\mathrm{sin}^2\theta d\varphi ^2$$
(2)
where $`\lambda =\lambda \left(\xi \right)`$ and $`\mu =\mu \left(\xi \right)`$ such that

$$\lambda _{\xi \xi }=\lambda _\xi ^2+\mu _\xi \lambda _\xi +\frac{\lambda _\xi +\mu _\xi }{\xi }\frac{e^{2\mu }}{\xi ^2}+\frac{1}{\xi ^2}$$
(3)
and a suffix indicates a derivative. The respective supporting pressure and density of the static cases are:

$$8\pi p_S=\frac{2e^{2\mu }\lambda _\xi }{\xi }+\frac{e^{2\mu }}{\xi ^2}\frac{1}{\xi ^2}$$
(4)
and

$$8\pi \rho _S=\frac{2e^{2\mu }\mu _\xi }{\xi }\frac{e^{2\mu }}{\xi ^2}+\frac{1}{\xi ^2}$$
(5)
In the following this source will be endowed with rotation up to and including quadratic terms in angular velocity parameter $`q`$. It is assumed that the resulting physical system may be described by means of the metric

$`d\sigma ^2`$ $`=`$ $`e^{2\lambda }\left(1+Qq^2\right)d\eta ^2e^{2\mu }\left(1+Uq^2\right)d\xi ^2\xi ^2\left(1+Vq^2\right)d\theta ^2`$ (6)
$`\xi ^2\left(1+Wq^2\right)\mathrm{sin}^2\theta d\varphi ^22X\xi ^2q\mathrm{sin}^2\theta d\varphi d\eta `$
where $`U`$,$`V`$, $`W`$ and $`Q`$ are each functions of $`\xi `$ and $`\theta `$ whilst $`X`$ is a function of $`\xi `$ alone. This particular gauge has been chosen since it is the intention to match this interior source to empty space-time using the well known Kerr metric expressed in Boyer and Lindquist coordinates at a boundary between source and empty space-time given by:

$$\xi _b=\xi _0+q^2f\left(\theta \right)$$
(7)
where $`f=f\left(\theta \right)`$ and $`\xi _0`$ is constant. All expressions will be accurate up to and including quadratic terms in $`q`$ so that the Kerr metric may be written as:

$$d\sigma ^2=\mathrm{\Psi }_{44}d\eta ^22\mathrm{\Psi }_{43}q\mathrm{sin}^2\theta d\varphi d\eta \mathrm{\Psi }_{11}d\xi ^2\mathrm{\Psi }_{22}d\theta ^2\mathrm{\Psi }_{33}\mathrm{sin}^2\theta d\varphi ^2$$
(8)
where:

$`\mathrm{\Psi }_{44}`$ $`=`$ $`1{\displaystyle \frac{2m}{\xi }}\left(1{\displaystyle \frac{q^2\mathrm{cos}^2\theta }{\xi ^2}}\right)`$
$`\mathrm{\Psi }_{43}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{2m}{\xi }}`$
$`\mathrm{\Psi }_{11}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{1\frac{2m}{\xi }}}\left[1+{\displaystyle \frac{q^2\mathrm{cos}^2\theta }{\xi ^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{q^2}{\xi ^2\left(1\frac{2m}{\xi }\right)}}\right]`$
$`\mathrm{\Psi }_{22}`$ $`=`$ $`\xi ^2+q^2\mathrm{cos}^2\theta `$
$`\mathrm{\Psi }_{33}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{2mq^2\mathrm{sin}^2\theta }{\xi }}+q^2+\xi ^2`$ (9)
Darmois junction conditions are employed at the boundary so that both the metric tensor $`g_{ab}`$ and the extrinsic curvature $`K_{ab}`$ must be continuous on the bondary surface (7). Using the suffix $`b`$ to indicate evaluation at $`\xi =\xi _b`$ and the suffix $`0`$ to indicate evaluation at $`\xi =\xi _0`$ it is straight forward to show that the following conditions on $`\lambda `$, $`\mu `$, $`U`$, $`V`$, $`W`$ , $`Q`$ and $`X`$ and derivatives with respect to $`\xi `$ hold at the boundary:

$`\left\{e^{2\lambda }\right\}_0`$ $`=`$ $`\left\{e^{2\mu }\right\}_0=1{\displaystyle \frac{2m}{\xi _0}}K`$
$`\left\{\lambda _\xi \right\}_0`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1K}{2K\xi _0}}`$
$`U_b`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{K\mathrm{cos}^2\theta 1}{K\xi _0^2}}+2f\left\{\mu _\xi \right\}_0+{\displaystyle \frac{f\left(K1\right)}{K\xi _0}}`$
$`V_b`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cos}^2\theta }{\xi _0^2}}`$
$`\left\{V_\xi \right\}_b`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{4f\left\{\mu _\xi \right\}_0}{\xi _0}}{\displaystyle \frac{2\mathrm{cos}^2\theta }{\xi _0^3}}`$
$`W_b`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1+\left(1K\right)\mathrm{sin}^2\theta }{\xi _0^2}}`$
$`\left\{W_\xi \right\}_b`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{3\left(K1\right)\mathrm{sin}^2\theta 2}{\xi _0^3}}+{\displaystyle \frac{4f\left\{\mu _\xi \right\}_0}{\xi _0}}`$
$`Q_b`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\left(1K\right)\mathrm{cos}^2\theta }{K\xi _0^2}}`$
$`\left\{Q_\xi \right\}_b`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\left(2K^2K1\right)\mathrm{cos}^2\theta }{\xi _0^3K^2}}+{\displaystyle \frac{f\left(13K\right)\left\{\mu _\xi \right\}_0}{\xi _0K}}+{\displaystyle \frac{f\left(K^21\right)}{2\xi _0^2K^2}}`$
$`X_b`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1K}{\xi _0^2}}`$
$`\left\{X_\xi \right\}_b`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{3\left(K1\right)}{\xi _0^3}}`$ (10)
For future convience it is useful to define the functions $`H(\xi ,\theta )`$ and $`h\left(\xi \right)`$ such that:

$`H(\xi ,\theta )`$ $`=`$ $`Q(\xi ,\theta )+\mathrm{sin}^2\theta \xi ^2X^2e^{2\lambda }`$
$`X_\xi `$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{h\left(\xi \right)e^{\lambda +\mu }}{\xi ^4}}`$ (11)
so:

$`H_b`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\left(1K\right)}{K\xi _0^2}}\left(1K\mathrm{sin}^2\theta \right)`$
$`\left\{H_\xi \right\}_b`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{3\mathrm{sin}^2\theta \left(1K\right)}{\xi _0^3}}+{\displaystyle \frac{\left(2K^2K1\right)}{K^2\xi _0^3}}+{\displaystyle \frac{f\left(K^21\right)}{2\xi _0^2K^2}}`$
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{f\left\{\mu _\xi \right\}_0\left(13K\right)}{\xi _0K}}`$
$`h_b`$ $`=`$ $`3\xi _0\left(K1\right)`$ (12)
## 2 Einstein’s equations for the rotating source

There are three non-trivial Einstein equations (1) which need to be solved for a fluid source in the gauge (6). In the first the condition $`T_2^1=0=T_1^2`$ gives rise to:

$$U_\theta \lambda _\xi +H_\theta \lambda _\xi +W_{\theta \xi }\frac{U_\theta }{\xi }+H_{\theta \xi }\frac{H_\theta }{\xi }+\frac{\mathrm{cos}\theta \left(W_\xi V_\xi \right)}{\mathrm{sin}\theta }=0$$
(13)
whilst $`T_1^1=T_2^2`$ becomes:

$`{\displaystyle \frac{e^{2\mu }}{2}}\{V_\xi \lambda _\xi U_\xi \lambda _\xi +2H_\xi \lambda _\xi +W_{\xi \xi }+{\displaystyle \frac{W_\xi }{\xi }}\mu _\xi W_\xi `$ (14)
$`{\displaystyle \frac{V_\xi }{\xi }}{\displaystyle \frac{U_\xi }{\xi }}+H_{\xi \xi }{\displaystyle \frac{H_\xi }{\xi }}\mu _\xi H_\xi \}`$
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cos}\theta \left(U_\theta +V_\theta 2W_\theta \right)}{2\xi ^2\mathrm{sin}\theta }}{\displaystyle \frac{H_{\theta \theta }+W_{\theta \theta }}{2\xi ^2}}+{\displaystyle \frac{UV}{\xi ^2}}`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{h^2\mathrm{sin}^2\theta }{2\xi ^6}}`$
$`=`$ $`0`$
The final equation is $`\left(T_3^3+p\right)\left(T_4^4+p\right)T_4^3T_3^4=0`$ which is explicitly:

$`e^{2\mu }(\lambda _\xi +\mu _\xi )\{W_{\xi \xi }\lambda _\xi W_\xi {\displaystyle \frac{2W_\xi }{\xi }}+\mu _\xi W_\xi +V_{\xi \xi }`$ (15)
$`+\lambda _\xi V_\xi +{\displaystyle \frac{2V_\xi }{\xi }}\mu _\xi V_\xi \}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cos}\theta \left(H_\theta +U_\theta \right)\left(\lambda _\xi +\mu _\xi \right)}{\xi ^2\mathrm{sin}\theta }}`$
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{\left(H_{\theta \theta }+U_{\theta \theta }\right)\left(\lambda _\xi +\mu _\xi \right)}{\xi ^2}}\mathrm{sin}^2\theta \left({\displaystyle \frac{h_\xi ^2}{4\xi ^5}}+{\displaystyle \frac{\left(\lambda _\xi +\mu _\xi \right)h^2}{\xi ^6}}\right)`$
$`=`$ $`0`$
An important differential consequence of these equations, since it is independent of any second derivatives with respect to $`\xi `$ is the relation:

$`{\displaystyle \frac{e^{2\mu }\mathrm{sin}\theta }{\mathrm{cos}\theta }}\left(U_\theta H_\theta \right)\xi ^2\lambda _\xi \left(\lambda _\xi \mu _\xi \right)\left(\lambda _\xi +\mu _\xi \right)`$ (16)
$`+e^{2\mu }\left(V_\xi W_\xi \right)\left(\xi ^2\lambda _\xi \mu _\xi \xi ^2+2\xi \right)\left(\lambda _\xi +\mu _\xi \right)`$
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{e^{2\mu }\lambda _\xi \mathrm{sin}\theta }{\mathrm{cos}\theta }}\left(\xi ^2V_{\theta \xi }\xi U_\theta \xi ^2H_{\theta \xi }+\xi H_\theta \right)\left(\lambda _\xi +\mu _\xi \right)`$
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{sin}\theta }{\mathrm{cos}\theta }}\left(W_{\theta \theta \theta }2W_\theta +3V_\theta +H_{\theta \theta \theta }H_\theta \right)\left(\lambda _\xi +\mu _\xi \right)`$
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{e^{2\mu }\left(\lambda _\xi +\mu _\xi \right)\mathrm{sin}\theta }{\mathrm{cos}\theta }}\{\mu _\xi (\xi ^2W_{\theta \xi }\xi U_\theta +\xi ^2H_{\theta \xi }+\xi H_\theta )`$
$`\xi W_{\theta \xi }+\xi V_{\theta \xi }+2H_\theta \}+{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cos}\theta }{\mathrm{sin}\theta }}(2W_\theta +V_\theta H_\theta \left)\right(\lambda _\xi +\mu _\xi )`$
$`+\left(2W_{\theta \theta }V_{\theta \theta }+H_{\theta \theta }\right)\left(\lambda _\xi +\mu _\xi \right)+\mathrm{sin}^2\theta \left({\displaystyle \frac{\left(\lambda _\xi +\mu _\xi \right)h^2}{\xi ^4}}{\displaystyle \frac{h_\xi ^2}{4\xi ^3}}\right)`$
$`=`$ $`0`$
The expression for the supporting internal pressure is:

$`8\pi p`$ $`=`$ $`8\pi p_S+e^{2\mu }q^2\left({\displaystyle \frac{W_\xi \lambda _\xi }{2}}+{\displaystyle \frac{V_\xi \lambda _\xi }{2}}{\displaystyle \frac{2U\lambda _\xi }{\xi }}+{\displaystyle \frac{W_\xi }{2\xi }}+{\displaystyle \frac{V_\xi }{2\xi }}{\displaystyle \frac{U}{\xi ^2}}+{\displaystyle \frac{H_\xi }{\xi }}\right)`$ (17)
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{q^2}{2\xi ^2}}\left(W_{\theta \theta }+2V+H_{\theta \theta }\right)`$
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{q^2\mathrm{cos}\theta \left(2W_\theta V_\theta +H_\theta \right)}{2\xi ^2\mathrm{sin}\theta }}+{\displaystyle \frac{h^2q^2\mathrm{sin}^2\theta }{4\xi ^6}}`$
and the fluid density is:

$`8\pi \rho =8\pi \rho _S+e^{2\mu }q^2\{{\displaystyle \frac{W_\xi \lambda _\xi }{2}}{\displaystyle \frac{V_\xi \lambda _\xi }{2}}{\displaystyle \frac{W_\xi }{2\xi }}V_{\xi \xi }{\displaystyle \frac{5V_\xi }{2\xi }}+\mu _\xi V_\xi `$
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{U_\xi }{\xi }}{\displaystyle \frac{2\mu _\xi U}{\xi }}+{\displaystyle \frac{U}{\xi ^2}}\}{\displaystyle \frac{q^2}{2\xi ^2}}(W_{\theta \theta }+2V+2U_{\theta \theta }+H_{\theta \theta })`$
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{q^2\mathrm{cos}\theta \left(2W_\theta +V_\theta +H_\theta \right)}{2\xi ^2\mathrm{sin}\theta }}+{\displaystyle \frac{h^2q^2\mathrm{sin}^2\theta }{4\xi ^6}}`$ (18)
The angular velocity may be written as:

$$L(\xi ,\eta )\frac{u^3}{u^4}=\frac{T_4^3}{T_4^4+p}=\frac{qh_\xi e^{\lambda +\mu }}{4\left(\lambda _\xi +\mu _\xi \right)\xi ^3}qX$$
(19)
## 3 Description of the boundary

Application of the boundary conditions (10) and (12) show that equation (13) is satisfied identically whilst (17) gives:

$$8\pi p_b=0$$
(20)
as expected.

Whenever $`\lambda _\xi +\mu _\xi 0`$, so that from the second of (10)

$$J=2\xi _0\left\{\mu _\xi \right\}_0KK+10$$
(21)
then equation (16) may be used to define $`f\left(\theta \right)`$ since at the boundary it reduces to:

$`2\mathrm{cos}\theta \mathrm{sin}\theta KJ\left(4\xi _0\left\{\mu _\xi \right\}_0K\left(K1\right)+7K^210K1\right)`$ (22)
$`{\displaystyle \frac{\xi _0f_\theta J}{2K}}\left(2\xi _0\left\{\mu _\xi \right\}_0K+K1\right)\left(2\xi _0\left\{\mu _\xi \right\}_0K\left(K+1\right)3K^2+4K1\right)`$
$`\mathrm{cos}\theta \mathrm{sin}\theta K^2\left\{h_\xi ^2\right\}_b`$
$`=`$ $`0`$
Thus in such cases it follows that:

$$f\left(\theta \right)=a_0+a_1\mathrm{sin}^2\theta $$
(23)
where $`a_0`$ is an arbitrary constant and $`a_1`$ is found using (22).

However the case $`\left\{\lambda _\xi +\mu _\xi \right\}_0=0`$ is also of importance. From equation (16) it follows that $`\left\{h_\xi \right\}_b=0`$ and so the value of the angular velocity $`L(\xi _b,\eta )`$ at the boundary surface must be determined by careful analysis of the limiting behaviour of (19) at $`\xi =\xi _b`$. Moreover since this case corresponds to the condition $`J=0`$ then the second of (12) and (5) imply that the surface density for the static solution must satisfy $`\left\{8\pi \rho _S\right\}_0=0`$. This will invariably be the case in physical situations where an equation of state of the type $`p=F\left(\rho \right)`$ is additionally imposed on equations (13) to (15) to close the system of Einstein’s equations. For such cases the condition $`\left\{8\pi \rho \right\}_b=0`$ also gives:

$`f\left({\displaystyle \frac{2K^2\left\{\mu _{\xi \xi }\right\}_0}{\xi _0}}{\displaystyle \frac{10K^2\left\{\mu _\xi \right\}_0}{\xi _0^2}}+{\displaystyle \frac{K^2+K2}{\xi _0^3}}\right)`$ (24)
$`+K^2\left(\left\{V_{\xi \xi }\right\}_0+{\displaystyle \frac{\left\{U_\xi \right\}_0}{\xi _0}}+{\displaystyle \frac{8\mathrm{cos}^2\theta }{\xi _0^4}}\right)`$
$`+f_{\theta \theta }\left({\displaystyle \frac{2K\left\{\mu _\xi \right\}_0}{\xi _0^2}}+{\displaystyle \frac{1K}{\xi _0^3}}\right){\displaystyle \frac{1+K}{\xi _0^4}}`$
$`=`$ $`0`$
This equation may be used to define the equation of the boundary $`f=f\left(\theta \right)`$ whenever $`\left\{U_\xi \right\}_0`$ and $`\left\{V_{\xi \xi }\right\}_0`$ are known. Clearly whenever $`\left\{U_\xi \right\}_0`$ and $`\left\{V_{\xi \xi }\right\}_0`$ depend purely on terms in $`\mathrm{sin}^2\theta `$ then $`f\left(\theta \right)`$ will have a solution of the form (23) and $`a_0`$ and $`a_1`$ would be found using (24).

## 4 Generating solutions of Einstein’s equations

Consider now the condition $`\left\{\lambda _\xi +\mu _\xi \right\}_00`$ and also the condition $`\left\{\lambda _\xi +\mu _\xi \right\}_0=0`$ provided that $`\left\{U_\xi \right\}_0`$ and $`\left\{V_{\xi \xi }\right\}_0`$ depend purely on terms in $`\mathrm{sin}^2\theta `$. The case when $`\left\{U_\xi \right\}_0`$ and $`\left\{V_{\xi \xi }\right\}_0`$ depend on higher harmonics is discussed in the next section.

It follows that $`f\left(\theta \right)`$ has the form (23) and for such cases solutions of Einstein’s equations satisfying the boundary Darmois boundary conditions may be found by writing:

$`U(\xi ,\theta )`$ $`=`$ $`G_0\left(\xi \right)+G_1\left(\xi \right)\mathrm{sin}^2\theta `$
$`V(\xi ,\theta )`$ $`=`$ $`G_2\left(\xi \right)+G_3\left(\xi \right)\mathrm{sin}^2\theta `$
$`W(\xi ,\theta )`$ $`=`$ $`G_2\left(\xi \right)+G_5\left(\xi \right)\mathrm{sin}^2\theta `$
$`H(\xi ,\theta )`$ $`=`$ $`G_6\left(\xi \right)+G_7\left(\xi \right)\mathrm{sin}^2\theta `$ (25)
The equations (13), (14) and (15) then give rise to four independent equations for $`G_i\left(\xi \right)`$ as follows:

$$2G_7\lambda _\xi 2G_1\lambda _\xi \frac{2G_7}{\xi }\frac{2G_1}{\xi }+2G_{7_\xi }+3G_{5_\xi }G_{3_\xi }=0$$
(26)
$`2G_{7_\xi }\lambda _\xi G_{3_\xi }\lambda _\xi G_{1_\xi }\lambda _\xi {\displaystyle \frac{G_{7_\xi }}{\xi }}+{\displaystyle \frac{G_{5_\xi }}{\xi }}{\displaystyle \frac{G_{3_\xi }}{\xi }}{\displaystyle \frac{G_{1_\xi }}{\xi }}`$ (27)
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{4G_7e^{2\mu }}{\xi ^2}}+{\displaystyle \frac{8G_5e^{2\mu }}{\xi ^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{4G_3e^{2\mu }}{\xi ^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{h^2e^{2\mu }}{\xi ^6}}`$
$`G_{7_\xi }\mu _\xi G_{5_\xi }\mu _\xi +G_{7_{\xi \xi }}+G_{5_{\xi \xi }}`$
$`=`$ $`0`$
$`2G_7\left(\lambda _\xi ^2{\displaystyle \frac{\lambda _\xi }{\xi }}\mu _\xi \lambda _\xi {\displaystyle \frac{\mu _\xi }{\xi }}+{\displaystyle \frac{6e^{2\mu }}{\xi ^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{2}{\xi ^2}}\right)+`$ (28)
$`2G_1\left(\lambda _\xi ^2+{\displaystyle \frac{\lambda _\xi }{\xi }}+\mu _\xi \lambda _\xi +{\displaystyle \frac{\mu _\xi }{\xi }}\right)+{\displaystyle \frac{h_\xi ^2e^{2\mu }}{4\xi ^5\left(\lambda _\xi +\mu _\xi \right)}}`$
$`+2G_{7_\xi }\left(\lambda _\xi \mu _\xi \right)+G_{5_\xi }\left(\lambda _\xi +{\displaystyle \frac{4}{\xi }}3\mu _\xi \right)`$
$`+G_{3_\xi }\left(3\lambda _\xi {\displaystyle \frac{4}{\xi }}+\mu _\xi \right)+{\displaystyle \frac{16G_5e^{2\mu }}{\xi ^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{8G_3e^{2\mu }}{\xi ^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{h^2e^{2\mu }}{\xi ^6}}`$
$`=`$ $`0`$
$`2G_{6_\xi }\lambda _\xi +G_{2_\xi }\lambda _\xi +G_{0_\xi }\lambda _\xi +{\displaystyle \frac{G_{6_\xi }}{\xi }}+{\displaystyle \frac{G_{0_\xi }}{\xi }}`$ (29)
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{2\left(G_7+3G_5G_3+G_2G_1G_0\right)e^{2\mu }}{\xi ^2}}`$
$`+G_{6_\xi }\mu _\xi +G_{2_\xi }\mu _\xi G_{6_{\xi \xi }}G_{2_{\xi \xi }}`$
$`=`$ $`0`$
The first three contain only $`G_1\left(\xi \right)`$, $`G_3\left(\xi \right)`$, $`G_5\left(\xi \right)`$ and $`G_7\left(\xi \right)`$ whilst the fourth contains each of the unknown $`G_i\left(\xi \right)`$. This under-determined set may be closed with the aid of an imposed equation of state as discussed in the previous section.

The boundary conditions (10) and (12) together with (25) then give rise to the following:

$`G_0\left(\xi _0\right)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{K1}{K}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{\xi _0^2}}+{\displaystyle \frac{a_0}{\xi _0}}\right)+2a_0\left\{\mu _\xi \right\}_0`$
$`G_1\left(\xi _0\right)`$ $`=`$ $`2a_1\left\{\mu _\xi \right\}_0{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\xi _0^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{a_1\left(1K\right)}{\xi _0K}}`$
$`G_2\left(\xi _0\right)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\xi _0^2}}`$
$`G_3\left(\xi _0\right)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\xi _0^2}}`$
$`G_5\left(\xi _0\right)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1K}{\xi _0^2}}`$
$`G_6\left(\xi _0\right)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1K}{K\xi _0^2}}`$
$`G_7\left(\xi _0\right)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{K1}{\xi _0^2}}`$ (30)
and:

$`G_{2_\xi }\left(\xi _0\right)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{4\left\{\mu _\xi \right\}_0a_0}{\xi _0}}{\displaystyle \frac{2}{\xi _0^3}}`$
$`G_{3_\xi }\left(\xi _0\right)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{4\left\{\mu _\xi \right\}_0a_1}{\xi _0}}+{\displaystyle \frac{2}{\xi _0^3}}`$
$`G_{5_\xi }\left(\xi _0\right)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{4\left\{\mu _\xi \right\}_0a_1}{\xi _0}}+{\displaystyle \frac{3\left(K1\right)}{\xi _0^3}}`$
$`G_{6_\xi }\left(\xi _0\right)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{a_0\left\{\mu _\xi \right\}_0}{\xi _0K}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\xi _0^3K}}{\displaystyle \frac{a_0}{2\xi _0^2K^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\xi _0^3K^2}}`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{3a_0\left\{\mu _\xi \right\}_0}{\xi _0}}+{\displaystyle \frac{a_0}{2\xi _0^2}}+{\displaystyle \frac{2}{\xi _0^3}}`$
$`G_{7_\xi }\left(\xi _0\right)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{3K}{\xi _0^3}}+{\displaystyle \frac{a_1\left\{\mu _\xi \right\}_0}{\xi _0K}}{\displaystyle \frac{a_1}{2\xi _0^2K^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{3a_1\left\{\mu _\xi \right\}_0}{\xi _0}}`$ (31)
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{a_1}{2\xi _0^2}}+{\displaystyle \frac{3}{\xi _0^3}}`$
## 5  Discussion and conclusion

In the analysis above it has been shown how the problem of determining slowly rotating sources embedded in Kerr empty space-time has reduced to the problem of determining solutions of the system of ordinary differential equations (26) to (29) subject to the conditions (30) and (31). Whilst these equations are under-determined they may be supplemented by an equation of state to make unique solution possible. Clearly the solution of the equations is straight forward enough although analytic solution in closed form for any known $`\lambda `$ and $`\mu `$ seem not to be possible.

The most appropriate techniques for solution are either numerical or alternatively a Taylor’s series solution approach for $`G_i\left(\xi \right)`$ about $`\xi =\xi _0`$. Two variations on the series method are worthy of note. In the first one may assume that both $`\lambda `$ and $`\mu `$ are known, for example, the Schwarzschild interior solution may be specified, and then take the system (26) to (29) subject to the conditions (30) and (31) as a linear set of equations for $`G_i\left(\xi \right)`$. In the second one may assume that neither $`\lambda `$ and $`\mu `$ are known, then impose an appropriate equation of state and also incorporate (3) so as to develop a series solution for $`\lambda `$ and $`\mu `$.

It should be noted that solution of the equations (26) to (29) does not give the most general solution of the problem of determining stationary rotating fluid sources which match Kerr empty space-time. More general solutions may be obtained by appending terms of the type:

$$\underset{k=2}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}Y_k\left(\xi \right)\mathrm{sin}^{2k}\theta $$
(32)
to each the substitutions (25) for $`U`$, $`V`$, $`W`$ and $`H`$ and then to generate a further sequence of linear ordinary differential equations for $`Y_k\left(\xi \right)`$ similar to (26) to (29). In the absence of an imposed equation of state then the resulting equations would be solved subject to the conditions $`Y_k\left(\xi _0\right)=0`$ and derivative $`Y_{k_\xi }\left(\xi _0\right)=0`$ for each value of $`k`$. The equation of the boundary in case is (23). When an equation of state is imposed then the equation of the boundary is determined from (24) and may contain higher harmonic component $`\mathrm{sin}^{2k}\theta `$, $`k2`$ depending on the nature of the boundary expressions for $`\left\{U_\xi \right\}_0`$ and $`\left\{V_{\xi \xi }\right\}_0`$. These expressions will in turn determine the boundary conditions which should be imposed on $`Y_k\left(\xi _0\right)`$ and the derivatives $`Y_{k_\xi }\left(\xi _0\right)`$.

The solution techniques outlined here are of course standard and are therefore not pursued further. The relevance of the analysis to, for example, determining potential sources for gravitational radiation or determining more rapidly fluid sources matching empty space-time will be examined in future research.


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# Leeds Pure Mathematics 2002/24 Fermions coupled to Skyrmions on 𝑆³

## 1 Introduction

The Skyrme model is a classical field theory which describes atomic nuclei and their low energy interactions . It is a non-linear theory admitting topological solitons, so-called Skyrmions, labelled by a topological charge $`B`$ which can be identified with the baryon number. When the theory is quantized the Skyrmions give a good description of nuclei, $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ resonance  and even bound states of nuclei . A striking feature is that Skyrmions can be quantized as fermions . When the theory is coupled to a fermion field two different ways of describing fermions appear in the same theory. Physically, the fermion field can be thought of as light quarks in the presence of atomic nuclei . Hiller calculated the spectrum of the fermions in the background of a Skyrmion . However, the approximation for the Skyrmion configuration was very crude. The spectrum shows a spectral flow of the eigenvalues depending on the value of the coupling constant. In particular one mode crosses zero. This general behaviour has been verified by other authors . To gain a better understanding we consider a generalization of the model. Since static field configurations in the original Skyrme model in flat space are topologically equivalent to maps $`S^3S^3`$, the model can be generalized to the base space being a sphere of radius $`L`$. The original model is recovered in the limit $`L\mathrm{}`$. It turns out that for $`L=1`$ and baryon number $`B=1`$ the Faddeev-Bogomolny bound is satisfied and the minimal energy solution can be worked out explicitly . In this case the map $`S^3S^3`$ is an isometry. For larger $`L`$ the Skyrmions are localized and tend to the usual flat space Skyrmions in the limit $`L\mathrm{}`$.

Monopoles and Skyrmions have many properties in common, and it is therefore instructive to recall the results for monopoles. There is an index theorem making use of the Bogomolny equations which states that for $`n`$ monopoles there is a $`n`$ dimensional vector space of fermionic zero modes . Furthermore, the monopole and its fermionic zero mode can be calculated explicitly for $`n=1`$. We will examine how far we can extend the analogy between monopoles and Skyrmions.

In this paper we study fermions coupled to Skyrmions on $`S^3`$. The Dirac equation on $`S^3`$ is derived in Sect. 2. We also explain the Skyrmion-fermion interaction. In Sect. 3, we derive the ordinary differential equation which describes the solutions with total angular momentum $`G=0`$ for general shape functions. In Sect. 4.1, we give a brief discussion of ordinary differential equations and their regular singular points. In Sect. 4.2, the equation of Sect. 3 is solved for a constant Skyrme configuration, which is equivalent to a mass term for the fermions. We also discuss the boundary conditions which are necessary to derive the spectrum. In Sect. 4.3, we derive the eigenfunctions and the spectrum for the hedgehog configuration with the special shape function $`f(\mu )=\mu `$. In Sect. 5 the results of Sect. 4.2 and 4.3 are verified numerically. The spectrum for more general shape functions is also evaluated numerically and compared with results in the literature. We find an interesting relationship between the topological charge of the Skyrmion and certain singular points. We end with a conclusion.

## 2 The Dirac Equation on $`S^3`$

In this section we derive the Dirac equation on a $`3`$-sphere of radius $`L=1`$. First we define an atlas of two charts $`X_i`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{X}_i`$ which are the stereographic projections from the north pole $`N`$ and the south pole $`S`$, respectively. Next we define vierbeins on both charts which uniquely determine a connection one-form using the metric compatibility condition and the torsion-free condition. The connection one-form induces the spin connection so that we can finally write down the Dirac equation for each chart.111A good discussion of frame fields and spin-connections can be found in , and also in . At the end of this section we discuss the interaction term which couples fermions and Skyrmions.

In order to construct the stereographic projection let $`S^3`$ be embedded in Euclidean $`^4`$ with coordinates $`(x_1,x_2,x_3,w)`$. The points of $`S^3`$ can now be labelled by the projection from the north pole $`N`$ onto the $`^3`$ plane through the equator introducing the coordinates $`X_i`$. Alternatively, one can project from the south pole $`S`$ introducing the coordinates $`\stackrel{~}{X}_i`$. These two charts are well defined everywhere apart from their projection point $`N`$ and $`S`$, respectively. In terms of the $`^4`$ Cartesian coordinates we obtain

$$X_i=\frac{x_i}{1w}\mathrm{and}\stackrel{~}{X}_i=\frac{x_i}{1+w}.$$
(2.1)
In the following, we derive the equations of motion for both charts. As we shall see in Sect. 4.2, this enables us to discuss the regularity conditions at the north and south pole in a simple way. We will also use the two charts to discuss a nontrivial symmetry of the energy spectrum in Sect. 5.2.

The induced metric on $`S^3`$ can be calculated from the Euclidean metric in $`^4`$. Taking into account that our base space is a Lorentzian space time $`\times S^3`$, the metric can be written as

$$g=\mathrm{diag}(1,\frac{4}{1+R^2},\frac{4}{1+R^2},\frac{4}{1+R^2}),\mathrm{where}R^2=X_1^2+X_2^2+X_3^2.$$
(2.2)
The other coordinate system gives rise to the same metric replacing $`X_i`$ by $`\stackrel{~}{X}_i`$. On the overlap the two charts are related via the transition functions

$$\stackrel{~}{X}_i=\frac{1}{R^2}X_i.$$
(2.3)
Therefore, the coordinate vectors $`_{X_i}`$ and $`_{\stackrel{~}{X}_i}`$ are related by

$$_{\stackrel{~}{X}_i}=\left(R^2\delta _{ij}2X_iX_j\right)_{X_j}.$$
(2.4)
Note that this transformation has the determinant $`\mathrm{det}(\frac{X_i}{\stackrel{~}{X}_j})=R^6`$. We now choose non-coordinate bases $`\widehat{e}_\alpha =e_{\alpha }^{}{}_{}{}^{\mu }_{X_\mu }`$ and $`\widehat{\stackrel{~}{e}}_\alpha =\stackrel{~}{e}_{\alpha }^{}{}_{}{}^{\mu }_{\stackrel{~}{X}_\mu }`$. It is convenient to choose diagonal vierbeins $`e_{\alpha }^{}{}_{}{}^{\mu }`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{e}_{\alpha }^{}{}_{}{}^{\mu }`$ such that

$`\begin{array}{c}e_{0}^{}{}_{}{}^{0}=1,\\ \\ e_{i}^{}{}_{}{}^{i}=\frac{1+R^2}{2},\end{array}\mathrm{and}\begin{array}{c}\stackrel{~}{e}_{0}^{}{}_{}{}^{0}=1,\\ \\ \stackrel{~}{e}_{i}^{}{}_{}{}^{i}=\frac{1+\stackrel{~}{R}^2}{2},\end{array}`$ (2.11)
where all other components vanish. The minus sign occurs because $`X_i`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{X}_i`$ are related by inversion which changes the orientation. The vierbeins satisfy

$$e_{\alpha }^{}{}_{}{}^{\mu }e_{\beta }^{}{}_{}{}^{\nu }g_{\mu \nu }=\eta _{\alpha \beta },$$
(2.12)
where $`\eta _{\alpha \beta }=\mathrm{diag}(1,1,1,1)`$ is the flat Minkowski metric. The same relations are true for the vierbeins $`\stackrel{~}{e}_{\alpha }^{}{}_{}{}^{\mu }`$. The non-coordinate basis vectors are related by an $`SO(3)`$-transformation

$$\widehat{\stackrel{~}{e}}_i=\frac{1}{R^2}\left(2X_iX_j\delta _{ij}\right)\widehat{e}_j.$$
(2.13)
This is in fact a $`\pi `$-rotation about the vector $`\frac{X_i}{R}`$. With this choice of vierbeins the connection one-form $`\omega _{\alpha \beta }`$ can be calculated from the metric compatibility condition $`\omega _{\alpha \beta }=\omega _{\beta \alpha }`$ and the torsion-free condition

$$\mathrm{d}\widehat{\theta }^\alpha +\omega _{}^{\alpha }{}_{\beta }{}^{}\widehat{\theta }^\beta =0,$$
(2.14)
where $`\widehat{\theta }^\alpha =e_{}^{\alpha }{}_{\mu }{}^{}\mathrm{d}X^\mu `$ is the dual basis of $`\widehat{e}_\alpha `$. After a short calculation we obtain

$$\omega ^{\alpha \beta }=\frac{2}{1+R^2}\left(X^\alpha \mathrm{d}X^\beta X^\beta \mathrm{d}X^\alpha \right),$$
(2.15)
and the same relation holds for $`\omega ^{\alpha \beta }`$ expressed in $`\stackrel{~}{X}_i`$-coordinates. The spin connection $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mu `$ is now given by

$$\mathrm{\Omega }_\mu \mathrm{d}X^\mu =\frac{i}{2}\omega ^{\alpha \beta }\mathrm{\Sigma }_{\alpha \beta },$$
(2.16)
where $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_{\alpha \beta }=\frac{i}{4}[\gamma _\alpha ,\gamma _\beta ]`$, and the $`\gamma `$-matrices satisfy the standard anticommutation relations $`\{\gamma _\alpha ,\gamma _\beta \}=2\eta _{\alpha \beta }`$. The Lagrangian for fermions in curved space time is given by

$$_{\mathrm{fermion}}=\overline{\psi }\left(i\gamma ^\alpha e_{\alpha }^{}{}_{}{}^{\kappa }\left(_\kappa +\mathrm{\Omega }_\kappa \right)\right)\psi .$$
(2.17)
With our choice of coordinates and vierbeins we obtain

$$_{\mathrm{fermion}}=\overline{\psi }(X_i,t)\left(i\gamma ^0_ti\gamma ^i\left(\frac{1+R^2}{2}_{X_i}X_i\right)\right)\psi (X_i,t),$$
(2.18)
using the coordinates $`X_i`$ and

$$_{\mathrm{fermion}}=\overline{\stackrel{~}{\psi }}(\stackrel{~}{X}_i,t)\left(i\gamma ^0_t+i\gamma ^i\left(\frac{1+\stackrel{~}{R}^2}{2}_{\stackrel{~}{X}_i}\stackrel{~}{X}_i\right)\right)\stackrel{~}{\psi }(\stackrel{~}{X}_i,t),$$
(2.19)
for the coordinates $`\stackrel{~}{X}_i`$. Equation (2.19) can be transformed into (2.18) by using $`\stackrel{~}{X}_i=\frac{1}{R^2}X_i`$ and the induced spinor transformation $`\rho `$ of the fermion field $`\psi (X_i,t)`$ which we calculate in the following. The spinor transformation $`\rho `$ is defined as

$$\stackrel{~}{\psi }\left(\stackrel{~}{X}_i\right)=\rho \psi \left(X_i\right).$$
(2.20)
The transformation $`\rho `$ is a lifting of the local Lorentz transformation $`T`$ of the vierbeins in (2.13). Note that the transformation $`T_{ij}=(2\widehat{X}_i\widehat{X}_j\delta _{ij})`$ can be rewritten as

$$T(\alpha )_{ij}=\mathrm{cos}\alpha \delta _{ij}+\mathrm{sin}\alpha ϵ_{ijk}\widehat{X}_k+\widehat{X}_i\widehat{X}_j(1\mathrm{cos}\alpha )$$
(2.21)
for $`\alpha =\pi `$. Here $`\widehat{X}_j=\frac{X_j}{R}`$. Since we are only concerned with the spatial part we work with the Euclidean $`\delta _{ij}`$ rather than with $`\eta _{ij}`$. Infinitesimally, the rotation is given by $`T(\alpha )_{ij}=\delta _{ij}+\alpha ϵ_{ijk}\widehat{X}_k`$. This can be lifted to a spinor transformation by $`\rho (\alpha )=\mathrm{exp}(\frac{i}{2}\alpha ϵ_{ijk}\widehat{X}_k\mathrm{\Sigma }_{ij})`$. For $`\alpha =\pi `$ we obtain

$$\rho =i\gamma _0\gamma _5\gamma _j\widehat{X}_j.$$
(2.22)
Note that there is a sign choice. As the spinor transformation $`\rho `$ is an element of the double cover of the rotation group, the transformation $`\rho `$ is also a lifting of the rotation $`T_{ij}`$.

In the following we discuss fermions coupled to Skyrmions. The full Lagrangian $``$ of this model is the sum of the fermion Lagrangian $`_{\mathrm{fermion}}`$, the Skyrmion Lagrangian $`_{\mathrm{Skyrmion}}`$ and the interaction Lagrangian $`_{\mathrm{int}.}`$. In this paper we consider fermions in the background of a static Skyrme configuration and neglect the backreaction. Therefore, we do not discuss the Skyrmion Lagrangian any further, and the interested reader is referred to . The interaction Lagrangian $`_{\mathrm{int}.}`$ given by

$`_{\mathrm{int}.}=g\overline{\psi }\left(\sigma +i\gamma _5𝝉𝝅\right)\psi ,`$ (2.23)
where $`U=\sigma +i𝝉𝝅`$ is a convenient parameterization of the Skyrme field. Equation (2.23) is the standard parity-invariant manner in which fermions couple to a Skyrme field and is also called the Yukawa interaction term. This Lagrangian was first introduced by Gell-Mann and Levy (without a fourth order Skyrme term), . Also see  for a discussion of various different chiral models. Recently, the Lagrangian (2.23) has been discussed by Balachandran et al. .

Note that $`\psi `$ is a spin and an isospin spinor. In our notation the Pauli matrices $`𝝉`$ act on the isospin indices, whereas the $`\gamma `$-matrices act on the spin indices. It is convenient to split the Dirac spinor into two $`2\times 2`$ spin isospin matrices $`\psi _1`$ and $`\psi _2`$ such that

$`\psi =\left(\begin{array}{c}\psi _1\\ \psi _2\end{array}\right).`$ (2.26)
In this notation the $`\gamma `$-matrices can be written in terms of quaternionic $`2\times 2`$ matrices using $`i`$ times the spin Pauli matrices $`𝝈`$ and the two dimensional identity matrix $`I_2`$ as a basis for the quaternions. Since any complex $`2\times 2`$ matrix can also be expressed in terms of quaternions with complex coefficients it is convenient to choose the same basis for the quaternions as before. Then the spin isospin matrices $`\psi _i`$ can be written as $`\psi _i=a_0^{(i)}I_2+ia_k^{(i)}\sigma _k`$. With this notation the spin operators act on $`\psi `$ by left-multiplication, $`\sigma _k\psi _i`$, whereas the isospin matrices act on $`\psi `$ by right multiplication

$`\tau _k\psi _i`$ $`=`$ $`\psi _i\sigma _k^T,`$ (2.27)
$`=`$ $`\psi _i\sigma _2\sigma _k\sigma _2,`$ (2.28)
where the transpose in (2.27) guarantees the group structure, and (2.28) gives a useful trick to evaluate $`\sigma _i^T`$.

As mentioned above, we make the approximation that the Skyrmion is a fixed static background field, i.e. we ignore the backreaction of the fermion fields. Furthermore, we only consider spherically symmetric Skyrmions. For $`B=1`$, Skyrmions are believed to be spherically symmetric, but for $`B>1`$ this is no longer true. However, we expect that some generic features of the Skyrmion-fermion interaction are not sensitive to the precise shape of the Skyrmion. For more details see Sect. 5.2. Spherically symmetric Skyrme fields are best written in polar coordinates

$$U=\mathrm{exp}\left(if(\mu )𝐞_\mu 𝝉\right),$$
(2.29)
where $`f(\mu )`$ is the “radial” shape function and $`𝐞_\mu `$ is the normal vector in $`\mu `$-direction, see (3.21). The shape function $`f(\mu )`$ can be calculated by solving the Euler-Lagrange equation of the Skyrme Lagrangian numerically. However, instead of using a numerical solution it is more convenient in this context to approximate $`f(\mu )`$ by an explicit function. Manton showed in  that a good ansatz for $`L`$ not too large is the conformal ansatz given by222For $`L\mathrm{}`$ the ansatz tends to $`f(r)=2\mathrm{arctan}\frac{r}{r_0}`$. Qualitatively, this is still a good ansatz.

$$f(\mu )=2\mathrm{arctan}\left(k\mathrm{tan}\frac{\mu }{2}\right).$$
(2.30)
Here $`k`$ is a constant which has to be determined by minimizing the energy of the Skyrmion. This ansatz describes a Skyrme configuration which is either localized around one of the poles or uniformly distributed. The value $`k=1`$ corresponds to the $`O(4)`$-symmetric ansatz of the previous section, whereas for $`k1`$, or $`k1`$, the Skyrme field is localized at the south pole, or the north pole, respectively. Manton also showed that for $`L\sqrt{2}`$ the stable solution is $`k=1`$.

Finally, we can write down the Dirac equation for fermions coupled to a spherically symmetric background Skyrmion. It is given by

$$\left(i\gamma ^0_ti\gamma ^i\left(\frac{1+R^2}{2}_{X_i}X_i\right)gU^{\gamma _5}\right)\psi (X_i,t)=0,$$
(2.31)
using the coordinates $`X_i`$ and

$$\left(i\gamma ^0_t+i\gamma ^i\left(\frac{1+\stackrel{~}{R}^2}{2}_{\stackrel{~}{X}_i}\stackrel{~}{X}_i\right)gU^{\gamma _5}\right)\stackrel{~}{\psi }(\stackrel{~}{X}_i,t)=0,$$
(2.32)
using the coordinates $`\stackrel{~}{X}_i`$. Here the Skyrmion gives rise to

$$U^{\gamma _5}=\mathrm{exp}\left(if(\mu (R))\gamma _5\tau _i\frac{X_i}{R}\right),$$
(2.33)
and the same equation holds in the coordinate system $`\stackrel{~}{X}_i`$.

## 3 Solving the Dirac Equation for $`G=0`$

In order to solve the Dirac equation we introduce spherical polar coordinates for equation (2.31) and (2.32). In terms of the coordinates $`x=(x_1,x_2,x_3,w)`$ in $`^4`$, the polar coordinates for the $`3`$-sphere of radius $`1`$ can be written as

$$x=(\mathrm{sin}\mu \mathrm{sin}\theta \mathrm{cos}\varphi ,\mathrm{sin}\mu \mathrm{sin}\theta \mathrm{sin}\varphi ,\mathrm{sin}\mu \mathrm{cos}\theta ,\mathrm{cos}\mu ).$$
(3.1)
The angles $`(\mu ,\theta ,\varphi )`$ can now be expressed in terms of $`X_i`$ as

$`\mu `$ $`=`$ $`\{\begin{array}{cc}\mathrm{arctan}\frac{2R}{R^21}+\pi \hfill & \mathrm{for}R^2<1,\hfill \\ \frac{\pi }{2}\hfill & \mathrm{for}R^2=1,\hfill \\ \mathrm{arctan}\frac{2R}{R^21}\hfill & \mathrm{for}R^2>1,\hfill \end{array}`$ (3.5)
$`\theta `$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{arctan}{\displaystyle \frac{\sqrt{X_1^2+X_2^2}}{X_3}},`$
$`\varphi `$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{arctan}{\displaystyle \frac{X_2}{X_1}}.`$ (3.6)
In terms of the $`\stackrel{~}{X}_i`$, the relations for $`\theta `$ and $`\varphi `$ are identical to the ones above, and for the $`\mu `$ coordinate we obtain

$`\mu `$ $`=`$ $`\{\begin{array}{cc}\mathrm{arctan}\frac{2\stackrel{~}{R}}{1\stackrel{~}{R}^2}\hfill & \mathrm{for}\stackrel{~}{R}^2<1,\hfill \\ \frac{\pi }{2}\hfill & \mathrm{for}R^2=1,\hfill \\ \mathrm{arctan}\frac{2\stackrel{~}{R}}{1\stackrel{~}{R}^2}+\pi \hfill & \mathrm{for}\stackrel{~}{R}^2>1.\hfill \end{array}`$ (3.10)
Equation (2.31) gives rise to the following Dirac equation in polar coordinates:

$$\left(i\gamma ^0_t+i\gamma ^i\left(e_{\mu i}_\mu \frac{e_{\theta i}_\theta }{\mathrm{sin}\mu }\frac{e_{\varphi i}_\varphi }{\mathrm{sin}\mu \mathrm{sin}\theta }+\frac{e_{\mu i}\mathrm{sin}\mu }{1\mathrm{cos}\mu }\right)gU^{\gamma _5}\right)\psi =0,$$
(3.11)
where $`\psi =\psi (\mu ,\theta ,\varphi ,t)`$ and the unit vectors $`(e_\mu ,e_\theta ,e_\varphi )`$ are given by

$`e_\mu =\left(\begin{array}{c}\mathrm{sin}\theta \mathrm{cos}\varphi \\ \mathrm{sin}\theta \mathrm{sin}\varphi \\ \mathrm{cos}\theta \end{array}\right),e_\theta =\left(\begin{array}{c}\mathrm{cos}\theta \mathrm{cos}\varphi \\ \mathrm{cos}\theta \mathrm{sin}\varphi \\ \mathrm{sin}\theta \end{array}\right)\mathrm{and}e_\varphi =\left(\begin{array}{c}\mathrm{sin}\varphi \\ \mathrm{cos}\varphi \\ 0\end{array}\right).`$ (3.21)
$`U^{\gamma _5}`$ can be written as $`U^{\gamma _5}=\mathrm{cos}f(\mu )+i\gamma _5𝐞_\mu 𝝉\mathrm{sin}f(\mu )`$. Similarly, equation (2.32) give rise to

$$\left(i\gamma ^0_t+i\gamma ^i\left(e_{\mu i}_\mu +\frac{e_{\theta i}_\theta }{\mathrm{sin}\mu }+\frac{e_{\varphi i}_\varphi }{\mathrm{sin}\mu \mathrm{sin}\theta }\frac{e_{\mu i}\mathrm{sin}\mu }{1+\mathrm{cos}\mu }\right)gU^{\gamma _5}\right)\stackrel{~}{\psi }=0.$$
(3.22)
The spin connection term could be removed by setting $`\psi =\frac{1}{1\mathrm{cos}\mu }\mathrm{\Phi }`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\psi }=\frac{1}{1+\mathrm{cos}\mu }\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Phi }}`$, respectively. However, it is easier to discuss the regularity of the solution in terms of the original fields.

We adopt the standard representation of the $`\gamma `$-matrices where $`\gamma ^0`$ is diagonal. This is convenient because the Dirac equation is invariant under parity.

$`\gamma ^0=\left(\begin{array}{cc}I_2& 0\\ 0& I_2\end{array}\right),\gamma ^i=\left(\begin{array}{cc}0& \sigma _i\\ \sigma _i& 0\end{array}\right),\mathrm{and}\gamma _5=\left(\begin{array}{cc}0& I_2\\ I_2& 0\end{array}\right).`$ (3.29)
Now, the spinor transformation $`\rho `$ in (2.22) can be evaluated explicitly:

$$\stackrel{~}{\psi }\left(\stackrel{~}{X}_i\right)=\left(\begin{array}{cc}i\sigma _j\widehat{X}_j& 0\\ 0& i\sigma _j\widehat{X}_j\end{array}\right)\psi \left(X_i\right).$$
(3.30)
With this choice of $`\gamma `$-matrices, we can derive the differential equation for the stationary solutions of the Dirac equation by setting $`\psi (X_i,t)=\mathrm{e}^{iEt}\psi (X_i)`$:

$`E\psi =\left(\begin{array}{cc}g\mathrm{cos}f(\mu )& 𝝈𝐩+ig𝐞_\mu 𝝉\mathrm{sin}f(\mu )\\ 𝝈𝐩ig𝐞_\mu 𝝉\mathrm{sin}f(\mu )& g\mathrm{cos}f(\mu )\end{array}\right)\psi ,`$ (3.33)
where

$$𝝈𝐩=i\left(𝐞_\mu 𝝈\left(_\mu +\frac{\mathrm{sin}\mu }{1\mathrm{cos}\mu }\right)\frac{1}{\mathrm{sin}\mu }𝐞_\theta 𝝈_\theta \frac{1}{\mathrm{sin}\mu \mathrm{sin}\theta }𝐞_\varphi 𝝈_\varphi \right).$$
(3.34)
The components of the matrix in equation (3.33) commute with the total angular momentum operator $`𝐆=𝐋+𝐒+𝐈`$ where $`𝐋`$ is the orbital angular momentum operator, the spin operator is $`𝐒=\frac{1}{2}𝝈`$ and the isospin operator is $`𝐈=\frac{1}{2}𝝉`$. In polar coordinates, the orbital angular momentum $`𝐋`$ is given by

$`L_x`$ $`=`$ $`i\left(\mathrm{sin}\varphi {\displaystyle \frac{}{\theta }}+\mathrm{cot}\theta \mathrm{cos}\varphi {\displaystyle \frac{}{\varphi }}\right),`$
$`L_y`$ $`=`$ $`i\left(\mathrm{cos}\varphi {\displaystyle \frac{}{\theta }}+\mathrm{cot}\theta \mathrm{sin}\varphi {\displaystyle \frac{}{\varphi }}\right),`$
$`L_z`$ $`=`$ $`i{\displaystyle \frac{}{\varphi }}.`$ (3.35)
Equation (3.33) is also invariant under parity $`\widehat{P}`$ with

$$\widehat{P}\psi \left(X_i\right)=\gamma _0\psi \left(X_i\right)\mathrm{and}\widehat{P}X_i\widehat{P}^1=X_i.$$
(3.36)
It is worth discussing the parity operator $`\widehat{P}`$ in more detail. $`\widehat{P}`$ acts on the $`\gamma `$-matrices and the partial derivatives as follows:

$`\begin{array}{ccc}\widehat{P}\gamma _0\widehat{P}^1=\gamma _0& \mathrm{and}& \widehat{P}\gamma _i\widehat{P}^1=\gamma _i,\\ \widehat{P}_0\widehat{P}^1=_0& \mathrm{and}& \widehat{P}_i\widehat{P}^1=_i.\end{array}`$ (3.39)
Using the spinor transformation $`\rho `$ in (2.22) we can show that

$$\widehat{P}\stackrel{~}{\psi }\left(\stackrel{~}{X}_i\right)=\gamma _0\stackrel{~}{\psi }\left(\stackrel{~}{X}_i\right).$$
(3.40)
Therefore, the parity operator $`\widehat{\stackrel{~}{P}}`$ which is defined for the coordinates $`\stackrel{~}{X}_i`$ differs from $`\widehat{P}`$ by a minus sign.333The origin of this sign difference is that the charts do not form an orientation atlas.

The $`G^P=0^+`$ positive parity spin isospin spinors are given by

$`\psi (\mu ,\theta ,\varphi )=\left(\begin{array}{c}\left(1\mathrm{cos}\mu \right)^{\frac{1}{2}}G(\mathrm{cos}\mu )\sigma _2\\ i\left(1\mathrm{cos}\mu \right)^{\frac{1}{2}}F(\mathrm{cos}\mu )\left(𝐞_\mu 𝝈\right)\sigma _2\end{array}\right).`$ (3.43)
This gives rise to the following system of first order differential equations:

$`{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{d}}{\mathrm{d}\mu }}\left(\begin{array}{c}F\\ G\end{array}\right)=\left(\begin{array}{cc}\frac{13\mathrm{cos}\mu }{2\mathrm{sin}\mu }g\mathrm{sin}f& Eg\mathrm{cos}f\\ \left(E+g\mathrm{cos}f\right)& g\mathrm{sin}f\frac{3\left(1+\mathrm{cos}\mu \right)}{2\mathrm{sin}\mu }\end{array}\right)\left(\begin{array}{c}F\\ G\end{array}\right),`$ (3.50)
where $`F`$, $`G`$ and $`f`$ are functions of $`\mu `$. Note that the $`G^P=0^{}`$ spinor

$`\psi (\mu ,\theta ,\varphi )=\left(\begin{array}{c}i\left(1\mathrm{cos}\mu \right)^{\frac{1}{2}}F(\mathrm{cos}\mu )\left(𝐞_\mu 𝝈\right)\sigma _2\\ \left(1\mathrm{cos}\mu \right)^{\frac{1}{2}}G(\mathrm{cos}\mu )\sigma _2\end{array}\right)`$ (3.53)
gives rise to the same equation with $`g`$ replaced by $`g`$.

In $`\stackrel{~}{X}_i`$-coordinates positive and negative parity are interchanged such that the $`0^+`$ is given by

$`\stackrel{~}{\psi }(\mu ,\theta ,\varphi )=\left(\begin{array}{c}i\left(1+\mathrm{cos}\mu \right)^{\frac{1}{2}}\stackrel{~}{F}(\mathrm{cos}\mu )\left(𝐞_\mu 𝝈\right)\sigma _2\\ \left(1+\mathrm{cos}\mu \right)^{\frac{1}{2}}\stackrel{~}{G}(\mathrm{cos}\mu )\sigma _2\end{array}\right).`$ (3.56)
This gives rise to

$`{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{d}}{\mathrm{d}\mu }}\left(\begin{array}{c}\stackrel{~}{F}\\ \stackrel{~}{G}\end{array}\right)=\left(\begin{array}{cc}\frac{1+3\mathrm{cos}\mu }{2\mathrm{sin}\mu }+g\mathrm{sin}f& E+g\mathrm{cos}f\\ \left(Eg\mathrm{cos}f\right)& \frac{3\left(1\mathrm{cos}\mu \right)}{2\mathrm{sin}\mu }g\mathrm{sin}f\end{array}\right)\left(\begin{array}{c}\stackrel{~}{F}\\ \stackrel{~}{G}\end{array}\right).`$ (3.63)
Again the $`0^{}`$ spinor

$`\stackrel{~}{\psi }(\mu ,\theta ,\varphi )=\left(\begin{array}{c}\left(1+\mathrm{cos}\mu \right)^{\frac{1}{2}}\stackrel{~}{G}(\mathrm{cos}\mu )\sigma _2\\ i\left(1+\mathrm{cos}\mu \right)^{\frac{1}{2}}\stackrel{~}{F}(\mathrm{cos}\mu )\left(𝐞_\mu 𝝈\right)\sigma _2\end{array}\right)`$ (3.66)
gives rise to the same equation with $`g`$ replaced by $`g`$.

Equation (3.50) can be transformed into a second order differential equation for $`G(u)`$ where $`u=\mathrm{cos}\mu `$. Note that since $`\mu [0,\pi ]`$ it is consistent to set $`\mathrm{sin}\mu =\sqrt{1\mathrm{cos}^2\mu }`$.

$$((1u^2)\frac{\mathrm{d}^2}{\mathrm{d}u^2}(4u+1+\frac{gf^{}\mathrm{sin}f\sqrt{1u^2}}{E+g\mathrm{cos}f})\frac{\mathrm{d}}{\mathrm{d}u}+E^2g^2\frac{9}{4}+\frac{2g\mathrm{sin}f}{\sqrt{1u^2}}$$

$$+\frac{3gf^{}\mathrm{sin}f}{2\left(E+g\mathrm{cos}f\right)}\frac{(1+u)}{\sqrt{1u^2}}\frac{g^2f^{}\mathrm{sin}^2f}{E+g\mathrm{cos}f}gf^{}\mathrm{cos}f)G(u)=0,$$
(3.67)
and similarly equation (3.63) can be transformed into

$$((1u^2)\frac{\mathrm{d}^2}{\mathrm{d}u^2}(4u1\frac{gf^{}\mathrm{sin}f\sqrt{1u^2}}{Eg\mathrm{cos}f})\frac{\mathrm{d}}{\mathrm{d}u}+E^2g^2\frac{9}{4}+\frac{2g\mathrm{sin}f}{\sqrt{1u^2}}$$

$$+\frac{3gf^{}\mathrm{sin}f}{2\left(Eg\mathrm{cos}f\right)}\frac{(1u)}{\sqrt{1u^2}}\frac{g^2f^{}\mathrm{sin}^2f}{Eg\mathrm{cos}f}+gf^{}\mathrm{cos}f)\stackrel{~}{G}(u)=0.$$
(3.68)
It is not easy to transform equation (3.67) and (3.68) into each other. In fact, due to the spinor transformation (3.30) $`\stackrel{~}{G}(u)`$ and $`F(u)`$ are related via

$$F(u)=\sqrt{\frac{1+u}{1u}}\stackrel{~}{G}(u).$$
(3.69)
Also note that $`F(u)`$ is given by

$$F(u)=\frac{1}{E+g\mathrm{cos}f}\left(\left(\frac{3(1+u)}{2\sqrt{1u^2}}+g\mathrm{sin}f\right)G(u)\sqrt{1u^2}\frac{\mathrm{d}}{\mathrm{d}u}G(u)\right),$$
(3.70)
and similarly $`\stackrel{~}{F}(u)`$ can be written as

$$\stackrel{~}{F}(u)=\frac{1}{Eg\mathrm{cos}f}\left(\left(\frac{3(1u)}{2\sqrt{1u^2}}g\mathrm{sin}f\right)\stackrel{~}{G}(u)\sqrt{1u^2}\frac{\mathrm{d}}{\mathrm{d}u}\stackrel{~}{G}(u)\right).$$
(3.71)
## 4 Explicit Solutions of the Dirac equation

In this section we solve the Dirac equation which has been derived in the previous section for various shape functions $`f(\mu )`$. However, first we review some basic facts about ordinary differential equations and regular singular points, following .

### 4.1 Differential Equations and their Singular Points

Any linear second order differential equation can be brought into the standard form

$$y^{\prime \prime }(u)+P(u)y^{}(u)+Q(u)y(u)=0.$$
(4.1)
If $`P(u)`$ and $`Q(u)`$ are analytic functions in the neighbourhood of $`u=u_0`$ then $`u=u_0`$ is called a regular point. In this case there are locally two linearly independent solutions $`y_1(u)`$ and $`y_2(u)`$ such that any solution of (4.1) is a linear combination of $`y_1(u)`$ and $`y_2(u)`$. Moreover, $`y(u)`$ is an analytic function, i.e. it can be written as

$$y(u)=\underset{n=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}a_n(uu_0)^n.$$
(4.2)
If either $`P(u_0)`$ or $`Q(u_0)`$ is singular then $`u=u_0`$ is called a singular point. In the special case that

$`P(u)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{p(u)}{uu_0}},`$ (4.3)
$`Q(u)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{q(u)}{(uu_0)^2}},`$ (4.4)
where $`p(u)`$ and $`q(u)`$ are analytic functions, i.e.

$$p(u)=p_0+p_1(uu_0)+\mathrm{}\mathrm{and}q(u)=q_0+q_1(uu_0)+\mathrm{},$$
(4.5)
the point $`u=u_0`$ is called a regular singular point. Equations which only have regular or regular singular points are known as Fuchsian differential equations. Equation (4.1) can then be solved by the following ansatz:

$$y(u)=(uu_0)^\rho \underset{n=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}a_n(uu_0)^n.$$
(4.6)
The exponent $`\rho `$ can be calculated by solving the so-called indicial equation

$$\rho ^2+(p_01)\rho +q_0=0,$$
(4.7)
which is derived by inserting the ansatz (4.6) into (4.1). The two solutions $`(\rho _1,\rho _2)`$ of the indicial equation (4.7) are called the exponents of the regular singular point $`u_0`$. Our convention will be that $`\rho _1\rho _2`$. If the difference of the exponents $`s=\rho _1\rho _2`$ is not a positive integer or zero, then the ansatz (4.6) gives rise to two linearly independent solutions of (4.1) which are uniformly convergent in some neighbourhood of $`u_0`$. Note, however, that the solution diverges at $`u_0`$ if its exponent $`\rho `$ is negative.

Let $`s=\rho _1\rho _2`$ be a positive integer or zero. This situation is slightly more subtle because the two solutions can become linearly dependent, and this could lead to further logarithmic terms. The solution $`y_1(u)`$ with exponent $`\rho _1`$ is always uniformly convergent in some neighbourhood of $`u_0`$. Therefore, we reduce equation (4.1) to a differential equation of first order by setting $`y(u)=y_1(u)z(u)`$. This gives rise to the following equation for $`z(u)`$:

$$(uu_0)^2z^{\prime \prime }(u)+\left(2(uu_0)^2\frac{y_1^{}(u)}{y_1(u)}+(uu_0)p(u)\right)z^{}(u)=0.$$
(4.8)
This equation can be solved by integration and separation of variables, and we obtain

$`z(u)`$ $`=`$ $`A+B_1{\displaystyle \stackrel{u}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\left(y_1(v)\right)^2}}\mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle \stackrel{v}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{p(w)}{wu_0}}dw\right)dv,`$ (4.9)
$`=`$ $`A+B_2{\displaystyle \stackrel{u}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{vu_0}{\left(y_1(v)\right)^2}}\mathrm{exp}\left(p_1(vu_0)\frac{1}{2}p_2(vu_0)^2\mathrm{}\right)dv,`$
$`=`$ $`A+B_3{\displaystyle \stackrel{u}{}}(vu_0)^{p_02\rho _1}g(v)dv,`$
where $`g(u)`$ is an analytic function in a suitable domain, and $`A`$ and $`B_i`$ are constants. A short calculation shows that

$$p_02\rho _1=s1.$$
(4.10)
Let

$$g(u)=1+\underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}g_n(uu_0)^n.$$
(4.11)
Then for $`s0`$ the most general solution is

$$y(u)=Ay_1(u)+B\left(g_sy_1(u)\mathrm{log}(uu_0)+\stackrel{~}{y}_2(u)\right),$$
(4.12)
where $`A`$ and $`B`$ are arbitrary constants, and $`y_1(u)`$ is the solution of the form (4.6). The constant $`g_s`$ and the function $`\stackrel{~}{y}_2(u)`$ are completely determined by the differential equation (4.8). The function $`\stackrel{~}{y}_2(u)`$ is given by

$$\stackrel{~}{y}_2(u)=(uu_0)^{\rho _2}\left(\frac{1}{s}+\underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}h_n(uu_0)^n\right),$$
(4.13)
the coefficients $`h_n`$ being constants. In the special case that $`g_s=0`$ no logarithms occur, i.e. the two solutions $`y_1(u)`$ and $`y_2(u)`$ are linearly independent.

If $`s=0`$ the corresponding form of the solution is

$$y(u)=Ay_1(u)+B\left(y_1(u)\mathrm{log}(uu_0)+(uu_0)^{\rho _2}\underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}h_n(uu_0)^n\right).$$
(4.14)
It is also possible to discuss the singularity at infinity. The transformation $`v=\frac{1}{u}`$ maps the point at infinity to the origin. If we apply this transformation to equation (4.1) we obtain a new differential equation in terms of $`v`$. If the new equation has a regular or a regular singular point at the origin $`v=0`$ then (4.1) has a regular or regular singular point at infinity.

If a Fuchsian differential equation has $`n`$ finite regular singular points $`u=u_i`$ with exponents $`\rho _{1,2}^{(i)}`$ and a regular singular point at infinity with exponents $`\rho _{1,2}^{(\mathrm{})}`$ then the following equation holds:

$$\rho _1^{(\mathrm{})}+\rho _2^{(\mathrm{})}+\underset{i=1}{\overset{n}{}}\left(\rho _1^{(i)}+\rho _2^{(i)}\right)=n1.$$
(4.15)
This is a useful consistency check for the exponents.

### 4.2 Fermions coupled to a Constant Skyrme Field

We are interested in the behaviour of fermions in the presence of a background Skyrmion. The Skyrmion introduces a space-dependent complex mass for the fermions. Therefore, it is instructive to consider first a massive fermion on $`S^3`$. This corresponds to $`f(\mu )0`$ so that the fermion mass is $`g`$. This example can be solved explicitly in terms of hypergeometric functions. In the following sections we proceed to more complicated configurations. In Sect. 4.3, we consider the spherically symmetric shape function $`f(\mu )=\mu `$ which can also be solved explicitly, but in a less standard way. In Sect. 5.2, the conformal shape function (2.30) is discussed. In this case, the differential equation can no longer be solved explicitly. We present numerical algorithms in Sect. 5.1.

Setting $`f(\mu )=0`$, equation (3.67) can be written as

$$\left(\left(1u^2\right)\frac{\mathrm{d}^2}{\mathrm{d}u^2}\left(4u+1\right)\frac{\mathrm{d}}{\mathrm{d}u}+e^2\frac{9}{4}\right)G(u)=0,$$
(4.16)
where $`e=\sqrt{E^2g^2}`$.

Equation (4.16) has three regular singular points, one at $`u=1`$, one at $`u=1`$ and one at $`u=\mathrm{}`$ with exponents $`\rho _{1,2}^{(1)}=(0,\frac{3}{2})`$, $`\rho _{1,2}^{(1)}=(0,\frac{1}{2})`$ and $`\rho _{1,2}^{(\mathrm{})}=(\frac{3}{2}+e,\frac{3}{2}e)`$ respectively. Note that relation (4.15) between the exponents is satisfied, i.e. the sum of the exponents is equal to $`1`$. In this example we will show that the solution is non-singular on $`S^3`$ if its exponents are $`\rho ^{(1)}=0`$ and $`\rho ^{(1)}=0`$.

Equation (4.16) can be solved explicitly:

$`G(u)`$ $`=`$ $`c_1(\frac{3}{2}+e,\frac{3}{2}e;\frac{3}{2};\frac{1}{2}\left(1+u\right))`$ (4.17)
$`+`$ $`c_2\left(1+u\right)^{\frac{1}{2}}(1+e,1e;\frac{1}{2};\frac{1}{2}\left(1+u\right)),`$
where $`(a,b;c;z)`$ is a hypergeometric function, e.g. see \[21, p. 556\]. The hypergeometric function is non-singular for $`0z<1`$ and is normalized at $`z=0`$, i.e. $`(a,b;c;0)=1`$. It may be singular at $`z=1`$, corresponding to $`u=1`$, which is the north pole. As $`G(u)`$ has to be non-singular at the south pole, $`u=1`$, we have to set $`c_2=0`$.

Since $`G(u)`$ is not well defined at $`u=1`$ we have to express $`G(u)`$ in terms of $`\stackrel{~}{G}(u)`$ and calculate $`\stackrel{~}{G}(1)`$. Using the transformation (3.30) from $`\stackrel{~}{\psi }`$ to $`\psi `$ we obtain

$`G(u)`$ $`=`$ $`\left({\displaystyle \frac{1+u}{1u}}\right)^{\frac{1}{2}}\left(i\sigma e_\mu i\sigma e_\mu \stackrel{~}{F}(u)\right),`$ (4.18)
$`=`$ $`\left({\displaystyle \frac{1+u}{1u}}\right)^{\frac{1}{2}}\stackrel{~}{F}(u),`$
which is the analogue of equation (3.69). Setting $`f(\mu )=0`$, in equation (3.68) we can derive a similar equation for $`\stackrel{~}{G}(u)`$ which has exponents $`\rho _{1,2}^{(1)}=(0,\frac{3}{2})`$, $`\rho _{1,2}^{(1)}=(0,\frac{1}{2})`$ and $`\rho _{1,2}^{(\mathrm{})}=(\frac{3}{2}+e,\frac{3}{2}e)`$. The solution of this equation can again be expressed in terms of hypergeometric functions:

$`\stackrel{~}{G}(u)`$ $`=`$ $`\stackrel{~}{c}_1(\frac{3}{2}+e,\frac{3}{2}e;\frac{3}{2};\frac{1}{2}\left(1u\right))`$ (4.19)
$`+`$ $`\stackrel{~}{c}_2\left(1u\right)^{\frac{1}{2}}(1+e,1e;\frac{1}{2};\frac{1}{2}\left(1u\right)).`$
This is only non-singular at $`u=1`$ if we set $`\stackrel{~}{c}_2=0`$. Assuming that $`Eg0`$, $`\stackrel{~}{F}(u)`$ can be calculated from equation (3.71):

$$\stackrel{~}{F}(u)=\frac{1}{Eg}\left(\frac{3(1u)}{2\sqrt{1u^2}}\stackrel{~}{G}(u)+\sqrt{1u^2}\frac{\mathrm{d}}{\mathrm{d}u}\stackrel{~}{G}(u)\right).$$
(4.20)
Therefore, $`G(u)`$ can be written as

$$G(u)=\frac{1}{Eg}\left((1+u)\frac{\mathrm{d}}{\mathrm{d}u}\stackrel{~}{G}(u)\frac{3}{2}\stackrel{~}{G}(u)\right).$$
(4.21)
$`\stackrel{~}{G}(u)`$ has to be non-singular at $`u=1`$. Equation (4.21 then implies that $`G(u)`$ is also non-singular at $`u=1`$. Therefore, the regular solution $`G(u)`$ has the exponents $`\rho ^{(1)}=0`$ and $`\rho ^{(1)}=0`$. Note that this argument only relies on the local behaviour and explicit solutions are not needed. As we shall see, in the generic case, the exponents at the singular points do not depend on the chosen shape function, so that our analysis is also valid for general shape functions. Problems can occur if additional singular points coalesce with the singular points at $`u=\pm 1`$ because this changes the exponents.444In the following section we will also discuss the case that further singular points are inside the interval $`(1,1)`$. In the generic case, the regular solution can be calculated by imposing that the solution can be expanded as a power series at the north and at the south pole. Later, this will be the basis for our numerical algorithm. Now, we impose this condition in order to calculate the spectrum of equation (4.16).

Using formula (15.3.6) in  we can express $`G(u)`$ in terms of hypergeometric functions at the second singular point.555 Equation (4.2) only holds if $`|\mathrm{arg}(1z)|<\pi `$. However, this inequality is satisfied because $`(1z)=\frac{1}{2}(1+\mathrm{cos}\mu )0`$.

$`G(u)`$ $`=`$ $`c_1(\frac{3}{2}+e,\frac{3}{2}e;\frac{3}{2};\frac{1}{2}\left(1+u\right)),`$
$`=`$ $`c_1({\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }(\frac{3}{2})\mathrm{\Gamma }\left(\frac{3}{2}\right)}{\mathrm{\Gamma }(e)\mathrm{\Gamma }(e)}}(\frac{3}{2}+e,\frac{3}{2}e;\frac{5}{2};\frac{1}{2}(1u))`$
$`+`$ $`\left({\displaystyle \frac{1u}{2}}\right)^{\frac{3}{2}}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }\left(\frac{3}{2}\right)\mathrm{\Gamma }\left(\frac{3}{2}\right)}{\mathrm{\Gamma }\left(\frac{3}{2}e\right)\mathrm{\Gamma }\left(\frac{3}{2}+e\right)}}(e,e;\frac{1}{2};\frac{1}{2}(1u))).`$
The last term has to vanish, otherwise $`\stackrel{~}{F}(u)`$ would be singular at the north pole. Therefore, either $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(\frac{3}{2}+e)`$ or $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(\frac{3}{2}e)`$ has to have a pole. Since $`e0`$, we obtain $`e=N+\frac{3}{2}`$, and the spectrum is therefore

$$E=\pm \sqrt{g^2+\left(N+\frac{3}{2}\right)^2},\mathrm{where}N=0,1,2,\mathrm{}$$
(4.23)
With this condition the eigenfunctions $`G_N(u)`$ reduce to Jacobi Polynomials (, formula 15.4.6).

The spectrum is displayed in figure 1. It is symmetric with respect to $`E=0`$. The importance of this result lies in the fact that for $`g=0`$ the energy $`E_N`$ and the corresponding solutions $`G_N(u)`$ are the same for all possible shape functions $`f(\mu )`$. Therefore, these solutions can be used as starting values for the relaxation method, which will be described in Sect. 5. As the radius of the $`3`$-sphere tends to infinity the spectrum tends to the usual spectrum of the Dirac equation, which is continuous for $`E^2g^2`$. Also note that if we assume that $`G(u)`$ and its first and second derivative remain finite as $`g`$ tends to infinity then the energy $`E`$ has to be of order $`g`$ in this limit, so $`\pm g`$ is the leading order asymptotic for $`E`$. Therefore, we displayed the lines $`E=\pm g`$ in figure 1. As we shall see in Sect. 5 the region $`E^2<g^2`$ also plays a special role for our numerical algorithm.

Another way of deriving the spectrum (4.23) is to note that if the exponents at $`u=\pm 1`$ both vanish then $`G(u)`$ is an integral function, that is it has only one singular point at infinity. The only integral functions which do not possess an essential singular point at infinity are the polynomials, e.g. \[20, p. 106\]. Therefore, one of the exponents at infinity is equal to $`N`$ for $`N=0,1,\mathrm{}`$. Since the exponents at infinity are $`\rho _{1,2}^{(\mathrm{})}=(e+\frac{3}{2},e+\frac{3}{2})`$ we obtain the same spectrum as before. Note however, that since the exponents $`\rho _{1,2}^{(\mathrm{})}`$ differ by an integer, we have to check in this approach that the solution is indeed a polynomial, i.e. $`g_s`$ in equation (4.11) vanishes. This spectrum has also been calculated by other authors, e.g. .

### 4.3 Fermions coupled to the Skyrme Field $`f(\mu )=\mu `$

In this section we construct the solutions of equation (3.67) for $`f(\mu )=\mu `$. Configurations with $`f(\mu )0`$ are called “hedgehog configurations” because at each point the vector in isospin space is proportional to the coordinate vector. For $`f(\mu )=\mu `$ the map from the base $`S^3`$ to the target $`S^3`$ is even an isometry and possesses $`O(4)`$-symmetry. Setting $`f(\mu )=\mu `$ in equation (3.67) we obtain

$$\left(1u^2\right)\left(E+gu\right)\frac{\mathrm{d}^2G}{\mathrm{d}u^2}\left(\left(4u+1\right)\left(E+gu\right)+g\left(1u^2\right)\right)\frac{\mathrm{d}G}{\mathrm{d}u}+$$
(4.24)
$$\left(\left(E+gu\right)\left(E^2g^2+2g\frac{9}{4}gu\right)+\frac{3}{2}g\left(1+u\right)g^2\left(1u^2\right)\right)G=0.$$

This is a homogeneous differential equation of Fuchsian type with four singular points. They are located at $`u=\pm 1`$, $`u=\frac{E}{g}`$ and $`u=\mathrm{}`$. Assuming $`E\pm g`$ the exponents are

$`\rho _{1,2}^{(1)}`$ $`=`$ $`(0,\frac{1}{2}),`$
$`\rho _{1,2}^{(1)}`$ $`=`$ $`(0,\frac{3}{2}),`$
$`\rho _{1,2}^{(\frac{E}{g})}`$ $`=`$ $`(2,0),`$
$`\rho _{1,2}^{(\mathrm{})}`$ $`=`$ $`\left(1\pm \frac{1}{2}\sqrt{14E+4E^2+8g4g^2}\right).`$ (4.25)
For $`E=g`$ the singular points at $`u=1`$ and $`u=\frac{E}{g}`$ coalesce, and therefore, the exponents at $`u=1`$ become $`\rho _{1,2}^{(1)}=(\frac{1}{2},0)`$ and the exponent at infinity is $`\rho _{1,2}^{(\mathrm{})}=(1\pm \frac{1}{2}\sqrt{1+4g})`$. The relation for the exponents (4.15) is satisfied. For $`E=g`$ the singular points at $`u=1`$ and $`u=\frac{E}{g}`$ coalesce. This changes the exponents at $`u=1`$ to $`\rho _{1,2}^{(1)}=(1,\frac{3}{2})`$. In this case, there is an essential singular point at infinity and the equation is no longer Fuchsian.

Since we are interested in solutions that can be expanded as a power series around $`u=\pm 1`$, it is natural to look for polynomial solutions. The singular point at $`u=\frac{E}{g}`$ might impose a constraint. In order to verify whether there is a logarithmic term we have to calculate the coefficient $`g_s`$ in equation (4.11). Here $`s=2`$. After a standard calculation we obtain $`g_2=0`$. Therefore, there are two independent power series at the point $`u=\frac{E}{g}`$. This imposes no further restriction, since we do not have to exclude any of these two solutions. This implies that $`G(u)`$ is again an integral function and we can calculate the energy spectrum using the exponents at infinity. Again, the exponents $`\rho _{1,2}^{(\mathrm{})}`$ differ by an integer, and we have to verify that the solutions are indeed polynomials. It turns out that the only problem occurs for $`\rho _2^{(\mathrm{})}=0`$.

In the following, we derive the recurrence relation for these polynomials. Yet, it is instructive to consider first the solution where $`G(u)`$ is a constant $`a_0`$, i.e. $`\rho _2^{(\mathrm{})}=0`$. Then we can solve equation (4.25) for $`E`$ and obtain $`E=g\frac{1}{2}`$ and $`E=\frac{3}{2}g`$. Setting $`G(u)=a_0`$ in equation (4.24), we obtain

$$\left(E+g\frac{3}{2}\right)\left(g\left(Eg+\frac{1}{2}\right)\left(u+1\right)+\left(Eg+\frac{3}{2}\right)\left(Eg\right)\right)a_0=0.$$
(4.26)
It is easy to see that this is not a solution for $`E=g\frac{1}{2}`$. $`G(u)=a_0`$ is only a solution for arbitrary $`g`$ if $`E=\frac{3}{2}g`$. This solution is very interesting because its spectrum crosses $`E=0`$ for $`g=\frac{3}{2}`$.

Now we derive the general solution for equation (4.24). Since we are interested in the solutions for which the relevant exponent vanishes for $`u=1`$, we expand $`G(u)`$ around the south pole $`u=1`$:

$$G(u)=\underset{n=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}a_n\left(u+1\right)^n.$$
(4.27)
Assuming that $`Eg`$, we derive the following recurrence relations. The initial condition is

$$a_1=\frac{1}{3}\left(E^2\left(g\frac{3}{2}\right)^2\right)a_0,$$
(4.28)
and the recurrence relation is given by

$`a_{n+1}={\displaystyle \frac{\left(\left(E3g\right)n^2+\left(3E2g\right)n\left(Eg\right)\left(E^2\left(g\frac{3}{2}\right)^2\right)\right)}{\left(Eg\right)\left(2n+3\right)\left(n+1\right)}}a_n`$
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{g\left(n^2\left(E^2Eg^2+2g+\frac{1}{4}\right)\right)}{\left(Eg\right)\left(2n+3\right)\left(n+1\right)}}a_{n1}.`$ (4.29)
Since we have an initial condition we expect to be able to reduce this second order recurrence relation to a recurrence of first order. Therefore, we make the ansatz

$$a_n=\underset{i=0}{\overset{n1}{}}b_i.$$
(4.30)
Substituting this ansatz into the recurrence relation (4.3) we obtain a non-linear first order recurrence for the $`b_n`$. However, this can be solved by setting

$$b_n=\frac{\left(2E2g+1+2\left(n+1\right)\right)\left(E^2E+2gg^2+\frac{1}{4}\left(n+1\right)^2\right)}{\left(2E2g+1+2n\right)\left(2n+3\right)\left(n+1\right)}.$$
(4.31)
By construction the series (4.27) has the right behaviour at the singular point $`u=1`$. To find the behaviour at $`u=1`$ we have to discuss the radius of convergence $`R_{\mathrm{conv}.}`$ of the series. The radius $`R_{\mathrm{conv}.}`$ can be calculated as the following limit:

$`R_{\mathrm{conv}.}`$ $`=`$ $`\underset{n\mathrm{}}{lim}\left|{\displaystyle \frac{a_n}{a_{n+1}}}\right|,`$ (4.32)
$`=`$ $`\underset{n\mathrm{}}{lim}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{|b_n|}},`$
$`=`$ $`2.`$
Therefore, the series converges for $`u[1,1)`$. For $`u=1`$, equation (4.27) can be written as

$$G(1)=\underset{n=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}a_n2^n.$$
(4.33)
For large $`n`$, $`b_n`$ behaves like $`\frac{1}{2}`$. Therefore, $`a_n`$ is proportional to $`(\frac{1}{2})^n`$ so that the terms in the sum (4.33) are of order $`1`$ and do not vanish. Hence, the series is divergent, unless it terminates. But because of the special form of $`a_n`$ and $`b_n`$ it is easy to see when the series terminates. In fact, for $`n>0`$ we can now write $`a_n`$ as the following product:

$$a_n=\frac{\left(E+g\frac{3}{2}\right)\left(E+g\frac{n}{2}\right)}{n!(2n+1)!!}\underset{i=1}{\overset{n}{}}\left(E^2E+2gg^2+\frac{1}{4}\left(i+1\right)^2\right),$$
(4.34)
where $`(2n+1)!!`$ is the product of all odd numbers less than or equal to $`(2n+1)`$. All $`a_n`$ vanish for $`E=\frac{3}{2}g`$ which is the constant solution that we have derived previously. If the term $`(E+g\frac{n}{2})`$ vanishes then the coefficient for $`a_n`$ vanishes individually. However, if one of the terms in the product vanishes, say for $`n=N_0`$, then not only $`a_{N_0}`$ vanishes but also all $`a_N`$ for $`NN_0`$, i.e. the series terminates.

From this condition the complete energy spectrum can be calculated. We obtain the special level $`E_0=\frac{3}{2}g`$ which crosses from positive to negative energies, and two series of energy levels $`E_n^+`$ and $`E_n^{}`$ which are given by

$$E_n^\pm =\frac{1}{2}\pm \sqrt{n^2+2n+\left(g1\right)^2}\mathrm{for}n=1,2,\mathrm{}.$$
(4.35)
The spectrum is displayed in figure 2. If we only consider the modes with energy $`E_n^\pm `$ the spectrum is symmetric under reflection at the axes $`g=1`$ and $`E=\frac{1}{2}`$. However, the mode $`0`$ with energy $`E_0`$ is only symmetric under combined reflections $`g2g`$ and $`E1E`$, which corresponds to a $`\pi `$-rotation around the point $`(E=\frac{1}{2},g=1)`$. This spectrum agrees with our previous calculation where we used the fact that $`G(u)`$ is an integral function.

## 5 Numerical Results

In this section we first describe numerical algorithms to calculate the spectrum for more general shape functions $`f(\mu )`$. Then we discuss the spectrum for the conformal ansatz (2.30). We also discuss the simple ansatz $`f(\mu )=B\mu `$ which gives rise to Skyrmions with $`B>1`$. Finally, we compare our results with the literature.

### 5.1 Numerical Algorithm

The energy spectrum can be calculated for various shape functions using a standard relaxation method . The differential equation (3.67) is rewritten as a system of first order differential equations.

$`y_{1}^{}{}_{}{}^{}(u)`$ $`=`$ $`y_2(u),`$
$`y_{2}^{}{}_{}{}^{}(u)`$ $`=`$ $`h(y_1(u),y_2(u),E).`$ (5.1)
The energy $`E`$ is considered as an additional dependent variable whose derivative vanishes, $`y_3(u)E`$, so that the complete system becomes

$`y_{1}^{}{}_{}{}^{}(u)`$ $`=`$ $`y_2(u),`$
$`y_{2}^{}{}_{}{}^{}(u)`$ $`=`$ $`h(y_1(u),y_2(u),y_3(u)),`$
$`y_{3}^{}{}_{}{}^{}(u)`$ $`=`$ $`0.`$ (5.2)
For simplicity, let us discuss the numerical algorithm for $`O(4)`$-symmetric shape function $`f(\mu )=\mu `$. Equation (4.24) has a regular singular point at $`u=1`$ which implies that at this point we cannot choose value and derivative of the solution independently. However, once the value of $`G(1)`$ is chosen we can calculate $`G^{}(u)=\frac{\mathrm{d}}{\mathrm{d}u}G(u)`$. In fact, inserting $`u=1`$ into equation (4.24) we obtain

$$G^{}(1)=\frac{1}{3}\left(E^2g^2+3g\frac{9}{4}\right)G(1).$$
(5.3)
Similarly we obtain for $`u=1`$,

$$G^{}(1)=\frac{1}{5}\left(E^2g^2+g\frac{9}{4}+\frac{3g}{E+g}\right)G(1).$$
(5.4)
The system (5.1) is discretized such that the boundary conditions at the singular points $`u=\pm 1`$ are satisfied. Starting from an initial configuration the relaxation algorithm calculates an improved configuration by linearizing the equation around the solution and minimizing an error function which indicates how well the discretized equations are satisfied.

The secret of a successful relaxation method is a good guess for the starting configuration. Fortunately, for $`g=0`$ the analytic solution of (3.67) is known for all possible shape functions $`f(\mu )`$. Therefore, we start with this configuration at $`g=0`$ and increase $`g`$ by a small amount $`\delta g`$. The relaxed solution is a good initial configuration for $`2\delta g`$, and so on.

As a test, the spectrum for $`f(\mu )=0`$ is calculated using the relaxation method. This reproduces the analytic result. For $`f(\mu )=\mu `$ the relaxation method converges well as long as $`\frac{E}{g}`$ is not inside the interval $`[1,1]`$. However, if the regular singular point $`\frac{E}{g}`$ is inside the interval, the relaxation algorithm no longer converges and has to be modified. This is one of the main reasons for including the lines $`E=\pm g`$ in the figures.

In this case a specially chosen shooting method proves more suitable. It deals with the additional singularities in $`[1,1]`$ by simply avoiding them. As mentioned before, our differential equation can be defined on the complex plane. Due to the boundary condition the solution $`G(u)`$ is an analytic function. The original solution is recovered by restricting $`G(u)`$ to be a real function of a real variable $`u[1,1]`$. In order to avoid further singular points on the real line we can set $`u=\mathrm{exp}(i\varphi )`$ where $`\varphi [0,\pi ]`$. Then equation (3.67) induces a differential equation for $`\varphi `$, that is the equation is solved on a semi-circular contour. The resulting differential equation can be written as a system of 5 real first order differential equations, one of which corresponds to the energy $`E`$. Now, the spectrum can be obtained by a standard shooting method, . The boundary conditions for the shooting method are that at the singular points $`u=\pm 1`$ the solution is non-singular and furthermore that the equation is real at $`u=1`$. Since the equation has real coefficients, the fact that $`G(u)`$ is real for $`u=1`$ implies that $`G(u)`$ is real for $`u[1,1]`$.

A successful shooting method needs a good initial guess. For $`g=0`$ we can rely on our explicit solution and impose $`G(1)=1`$ and

$`G(1)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }(\frac{3}{2})\mathrm{\Gamma }(\frac{3}{2})}{\mathrm{\Gamma }(e)\mathrm{\Gamma }(e)}},`$ (5.5)
$`=`$ $`\frac{2}{3}e\mathrm{sin}(\pi e)`$ (5.6)
where equation (5.5) follows from equation (4.2) and equation (5.6) follows from the reflection relation for the gamma function (see (6.1.17) in ). As in the relaxation method the initial guess for the coupling constant $`g+\delta g`$ is the value of the solution for coupling constant $`g`$.

It is also possible to reconstruct the solution $`G(u)`$ for $`u[1,1]`$ using the solution $`G(\mathrm{exp}(i\varphi ))`$ for $`\varphi [0,\pi ]`$. Cauchy’s formula states that if $`f(z)`$ is an analytic function and $`C`$ is a contour enclosing the point $`a`$ then

$$f^{(n)}(a)=\frac{n!}{2\pi i}\underset{C}{}\frac{f(z)\mathrm{d}z}{(zu)^{n+1}},$$
(5.7)
see for example \[20, page 90\]. In our case $`G(u)`$ is a real function on the interval $`[1,1]`$, so

$$G(u)=\underset{k=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}a_ku^k,$$
(5.8)
where the coefficients $`a_k`$ are real. It follows that $`G(u)`$ can be written as

$$G(u)=\frac{1}{\pi }\mathrm{}\left(\underset{0}{\overset{\pi }{}}\frac{G(\mathrm{e}^{i\varphi })\mathrm{e}^{i\varphi }\mathrm{d}\varphi }{\mathrm{e}^{i\varphi }u}\right),$$
(5.9)
and a similar formula can be obtained for its derivative $`G^{}(u)`$. For $`E^2>g^2`$ both the relaxation method and the shooting method give the same result.

### 5.2 Generalization to more complicated Skyrmions

With the conformal shape function (2.30), equation (3.67) gives rise to a rather lengthy differential equation with five regular singular points, see  for more details. Assuming that the singular points do not coalesce we obtain the following exponents:

$`\rho _{1,2}^{(1)}`$ $`=`$ $`(0,\frac{3}{2}),`$
$`\rho _{1,2}^{(1)}`$ $`=`$ $`(0,\frac{1}{2}),`$
$`\rho _{1,2}^{(\frac{Eagb}{Ebga})}`$ $`=`$ $`(2,0),`$
$`\rho _{1,2}^{(\frac{a}{b})}`$ $`=`$ $`(0,0),`$
$`\rho _{1,2}^{(\mathrm{})}`$ $`=`$ $`\left(\frac{3}{2}\pm \sqrt{E^2g^2}\right),`$ (5.10)
where $`a=k^2+1`$ and $`b=k^21`$ and $`k>1`$. The relation (4.15) is again satisfied. Moreover, the exponents at infinity are the same as for $`f(\mu )=0`$. In the limit $`k1`$ the exponents at infinity change discontinuously (see (4.25)). The exponents change if one or more singular points coalesce. However, in general, there are five singular points which all have different characteristics.

The regular singular points at $`u=\pm 1`$ provide the boundary conditions for the regular solution, and are not very sensitive to the exact form of the shape function. They imply that the solution of this equation locally still is an analytic function of $`u`$. One might expect that the regular singular point at infinity could be used to calculate the degree of the polynomial as in the previous two sections. However, for general $`k`$, the solutions are not regular on the entire complex plane, so that the exponents at infinity do not contain any information about the spectrum. This is because there is a further singular point at $`u=\frac{b}{a}`$ with exponents $`(0,0)`$. Generically, the solution diverges logarithmically at this singular point such that $`u=\frac{b}{a}`$ is a branch point, see equation (4.14). The existence of polynomial solutions might be related to the spherical $`O(4)`$ symmetry of the problem, which is broken for $`k1`$. Note that the singular point at $`\frac{a}{b}=\frac{k^2+1}{k^21}`$ is independent of $`E`$, and it can never be inside the interval $`(1,1)`$ because $`(k^2+1)^2>(k^21)^2`$ for $`k(0,\mathrm{})`$. Finally, the singular point at $`\frac{Eagb}{Ebga}`$ depends on the energy $`E`$. Moreover, for certain values of $`E`$, $`k`$ and $`g`$ this point can be inside the interval $`(1,1)`$. This singular point could force a potential solution to diverge, such that it would no longer be well-defined. Therefore, we are interested in the local behaviour near $`u=\frac{Eagb}{Ebga}`$. After a straightforward but long calculation using Maple, we obtain $`g_2=0`$. Therefore, locally, both solutions are convergent power series, and no logarithmic divergencies occur.

In the following we calculate spectra as functions of the coupling constant $`g`$ for different values of $`k`$ numerically. For $`k=1`$ we reproduce the spectrum for $`f(\mu )=\mu `$ of Sect. 4.3. Also note that $`k=\mathrm{}`$ corresponds to the spectrum for $`f(\mu )=\pi `$ which agrees with the spectrum for $`f(\mu )=0`$ in Sect. 4.2. As $`k`$ increases the spectrum moves towards the $`k=\mathrm{}`$ spectrum. At the same time, the energy $`E_0`$ intersects $`E=0`$ for increasing values of the coupling constant $`g`$, such that for $`k\mathrm{}`$ the intersection point also appears to move to $`\mathrm{}`$. In figure 3 we display the spectrum for $`k=5`$.

In the following we discuss the eigenfunction which crosses zero in more detail. We restrict out attention to the following Lorentz scalar $`Q`$ which is defined as

$$Q=\underset{S^3}{}\overline{\psi }\psi .$$
(5.11)
A short calculation shows that $`\overline{\psi }\psi `$ is a function of $`\mu `$ only. Therefore, we can integrate out the angular coordinates $`\theta `$ and $`\varphi `$ and obtain:

$`Q`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{0}{\overset{\pi }{}}}\stackrel{~}{Q}(\mu )d\mu ,`$ (5.12)
$`=`$ $`4\pi {\displaystyle \underset{0}{\overset{\pi }{}}}\left((1\mathrm{cos}\mu )G^2+(1+\mathrm{cos}\mu )\stackrel{~}{G}^2\right)\mathrm{sin}^2\mu \mathrm{d}\mu .`$ (5.13)
The density $`\stackrel{~}{Q}(\mu )`$ measures where the fermion field is localised. To obtain equation (5.13) we used equations (3.43) and (3.69). $`G(u)`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{G}(u)`$ can be calculated from (3.67) and (3.68), respectively. Recall $`u=\mathrm{cos}\mu `$. Expressing $`F(u)`$ in terms of $`\stackrel{~}{G}(u)`$ avoids having to worry about the denominator in (3.70) which is rather difficult to handle numerically. Note however, that $`F(u)`$ is non-singular for $`E+g\mathrm{cos}f=0`$. This follows from the behaviour at the corresponding regular singular point of equation (3.67). The function $`\stackrel{~}{G}(u)`$ is related to $`G(u)`$ via equations (3.69) and (3.70). This implies

$$\stackrel{~}{G}(1)=\frac{3}{2(E+g)}.$$
(5.14)
In the following, we calculate $`\stackrel{~}{Q}(\mu )`$ for $`k=1`$, $`2`$ and $`5`$ and compare it to the baryon density

$$\stackrel{~}{B}(\mu )=\frac{2}{\pi }f^{}(\mu )\mathrm{sin}^2f(\mu ).$$
(5.15)
which measures where the Skyrme field is localized.666Usually, $`\stackrel{~}{B}(\mu )`$ is defined with a minus sign, but this is of no relevance here.

The expression for $`\psi `$ can be calculated explicitly for $`k=1`$. In this case $`G(u)=a_0`$. Since we are interested in the zero crossing mode we have to set $`E=\frac{3}{2}g`$ and obtain

$$\stackrel{~}{Q}(\mu )=8\pi a_0^2\mathrm{sin}^2\mu .$$
(5.16)
Surprisingly, this is independent of $`g`$. Also note that in this case $`\stackrel{~}{Q}(\mu )`$ is proportional to $`\stackrel{~}{B}(\mu )`$. In the following, we normalize $`\stackrel{~}{Q}(\mu )`$ so that $`Q=1`$.

For $`k>1`$, the Skyrme configuration is localised near the north pole $`\mu =0`$ (see figure 4). In figure 4 (a) and (b) we show $`\stackrel{~}{B}(\mu )`$ for $`k=2`$ and $`k=5`$, respectively. In figure 4 (c) and (d) we show $`\stackrel{~}{Q}(\mu )`$ for several values of the coupling constant $`g`$. For $`g=0`$, $`\stackrel{~}{Q}(\mu )`$ can also be calculated explicitly and is independent of $`k`$. For $`k>1`$ and $`g>0`$, the fermion configuration is also localised near the north pole. For $`k=2`$, the energy $`E`$ vanishes when $`g1.795`$. For $`k=5`$, the energy $`E`$ vanishes when $`g3.573`$. In figure 4 (e) and (f) we display $`\stackrel{~}{Q}(\mu )`$ for these values of $`g`$ and compare it to the baryon density $`\stackrel{~}{B}(\mu )`$. There is quite a good agreement between these two functions. Therefore, the $`E=0`$ states can be interpreted as a fermion-Skyrmion bound states.

The simplest method for obtaining a Skyrmion with baryon number $`B>1`$ is the ansatz $`f(\mu )=B\mu `$. For $`B>1`$ this Skyrme configuration has very high energy. However, we are mainly interested in the interplay of topology and the spectrum of the Dirac equation which should be independent of the precise form of the Skyrmion.

For $`B=2`$ the spectrum is displayed in figure 5. It is symmetric with respect to the $`E`$-axis. Note that the symmetry of the spectrum can be derived from equation (3.67) and (3.68). For even $`B`$ the function $`\mathrm{cos}f`$ is an even function of $`u`$ and $`\mathrm{sin}f`$ is an odd function of $`u`$. Under $`gg`$ and $`uu`$ equation (3.67) transforms into equation (3.68). However, the equations are just expressed in different coordinate systems, and hence have the same energy eigenvalues. Therefore, we have shown that the spectrum is symmetric under $`gg`$ if $`B`$ is even, provided that $`f`$ is an odd function of $`u`$.

For $`g=0`$ all the eigenmodes have the same value, independent of the background configuration, and parity. As $`g`$ increases, the modes increasingly feel the influence of the background configuration, in particular its topology. It appears that the winding number $`B=2`$ of the Skyrmion forces $`2`$ modes to cross zero, one for $`g>0`$ and one for $`g<0`$. In order to follow the spectrum for $`E^2<g^2`$ the shooting method has to be used.

This pattern can also be verified for $`B=3`$, see figure 6. Now there are three modes which cross zero, two of positive parity ($`g>0`$) and one of negative parity $`(g<0)`$. It seems probable that the number zero-crossing modes of positive parity differs at most by one from the number of zero-crossing modes of negative parity. Further calculations for $`B=4`$ and $`5`$ confirm this pattern. For $`B=4`$ we find two zero-crossing modes of positive parity and two of negative parity, whereas for $`B=5`$ there are three positive parity modes and two negative parity modes.

This numerical evidence shows that the singular points of equation (3.67) play an important role. In the following we will assume that $`f(\mu )`$ is an analytic function, and in particular that it can be expanded in a Taylor series with respect to the variable $`u=\mathrm{cos}\mu `$, for $`u(1,1)`$. It follows that $`\mathrm{cos}f`$ and $`\mathrm{sin}f`$ are also analytic functions of $`u`$. Therefore, the only singular points of (3.67) inside the interval $`(1,1)`$ occur for $`\mathrm{cos}f=E/g`$. If such a singular point is non-degenerate its exponents are $`0`$ and $`2`$. Furthermore, it can be shown be shown by expanding $`f`$ as a power series in $`u`$ that the coefficient $`g_2`$ always vanishes. In our previous examples $`f(\mu )`$ was always monotonic. Let $`f(\mu )`$ be monotonic with boundary conditions $`f(0)=0`$ and $`f(\pi )=B\pi `$. If $`E^2<g^2`$ then $`\mathrm{cos}f=E/g`$ has $`B`$ nondegenerate solutions for $`u_i(1,1)`$. In this case, these singularities of equation (3.67) all have exponents $`(2,0)`$ and the coefficient $`g_2`$ vanishes, so that the solution of (3.67) is regular at these points. We conjecture that the existence of $`B`$ regular singular points inside the interval $`(1,1)`$ indicates that there are $`B`$ modes crossing from one side of the spectrum to the other. This conjecture is equivalent to the statement that for topological charge $`B`$ there are $`B`$ modes that cross zero.777The existence of such zero-crossing modes has also been discussed recently by Balachandran et al. in a more geometric language. The authors discovered a relation between these modes and Euclidean instantons.

If we allow for more general Skyrme configurations than the hedgehog, such a statement becomes even more difficult to prove, because now we have to solve partial differential equations. However, both the topological number and the number of singular points are stable under small perturbations. Therefore, there seems to be a deep interplay between the topology of the configuration and the singular points of a differential operator. This can be compared to monopoles where we have an index theorem which connects the topology of the monopole configuration with the index of the Dirac operator.

In the following we compare our results with the literature. Kahana and Ripka considered the problem of coupling a hedgehog configuration to fermions in flat space using an approximation for the Skyrme configuration with a size parameter. Varying this parameter they computed the spectral flow of the eigenvalues. They found a $`0^+`$ zero mode for a special value of the “size” of the hedgehog. Since the size is given by minimizing the energy density for the Skyrmion their result corresponds to varying the coupling constant $`g`$.

In  a linear approximation for the shape function, $`f(r)=\pi (1\frac{x}{X})`$, was used. Here $`x=gr`$ so that the Dirac equation for the fermions is independent of $`g`$. However, we defined the Skyrmion as a given background configuration which minimizes the energy. Therefore, $`X=gR_{\mathrm{Sk}.}`$ where $`R_{\mathrm{Sk}.}`$ is the size of the Skyrmion. $`R_{\mathrm{Sk}.}`$ can be calculated by minimizing the energy : $`R_{\mathrm{Sk}.}=1.67`$. Kahana and Ripka showed by numerical calculation that there is a zero mode for $`X=3.2`$ which corresponds to $`g=1.9`$. In  an exponential function was used to approximate the shape function: $`f(r)=\pi \mathrm{exp}(\frac{x}{X})`$. In this case minimizing the energy results in $`R_{\mathrm{Sk}.}=1.7`$ and the zero mode occurs for $`X=2`$ which corresponds to $`g=1.1`$. The fact that there is a mode which crosses zero seems to be independent of the special ansatz for the shape function. This is consistent with our results.

In  it has been argued that a Skyrmion in flat space is reasonably well approximated by the stereographic projection of a Skyrmion on a $`3`$-sphere of optimal radius. The optimal radius for $`B=1`$ is $`L=1`$ so we can use our analytic result for the mode $`E_0`$ in Sect. 4.3. For $`g=\frac{3}{2}`$ this is a zero mode, and the value of $`g`$ is in the same order of magnitude as in the literature mentioned above.

## 6 Conclusion

We have derived the Dirac equation for fermions on the $`3`$-sphere which are chirally coupled to a Skyrmion. In this paper, we only considered spherically symmetric Skyrme configurations and fermionic states with the total angular momentum $`G=0`$. We were particularly interested in the shape functions $`f(\mu )=0`$ and $`f(\mu )=\mu `$ and the conformal ansatz (2.30).

The shape function $`f(\mu )=0`$ leads to a hypergeometric equation and can therefore be solved explicitly in terms of hypergeometric functions. To derive the spectrum we have to impose that the solutions are non-singular at the north and south pole using the correct chart. We derived the spectrum

$$E=\pm \sqrt{g^2+(N+\frac{3}{2})^2}\mathrm{for}N=0,1,2,\mathrm{},$$

which agrees with the spectrum calculated by Sen  using Maurer Cartan forms. Moreover, the eigenfunctions $`G_N(u)`$ are given by Jacobi Polynomials.

The shape function $`f(\mu )=\mu `$ is more complicated. It leads to a Fuchsian equation with four regular singular points, two at the boundary $`u=\pm 1`$, one at infinity and one depending on $`E`$ and $`g`$. However, the equation could still be solved in terms of polynomials. We were able to solve the recurrence relation for the coefficients of the polynomial and derived the corresponding spectrum:

$`E_0`$ $`=`$ $`\frac{3}{2}g,`$
$`E_n^\pm `$ $`=`$ $`\frac{1}{2}\pm \sqrt{n^2+2n+\left(g1\right)^2}\mathrm{for}n=1,2,\mathrm{}`$
The eigenfunctions have been evaluated explicitly:

$`G_0(u)`$ $`=`$ $`a_0,`$
$`G_n(u)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{k=0}{\overset{n}{}}}a_k\left(u+1\right)^k,`$
where

$$a_k=\frac{\left(E+g\frac{3}{2}\right)\left(E+g\frac{k}{2}\right)}{k!(2k+1)!!}\underset{i=1}{\overset{k}{}}\left(E^2E+2gg^2+\frac{1}{4}\left(i+1\right)^2\right).$$

We also considered more general shape functions numerically. For $`B=1`$ we discussed the conformal ansatz (2.30) and calculated the spectrum. For $`k=1`$ the spectrum agrees with the analytic solution. In particular there is a mode $`0`$ whose energy $`E_0`$ crosses zero for a certain value of the coupling $`g`$. The graph of $`E_0`$ as a function of $`g`$ changes as the parameter $`k`$ in the ansatz is varied. However, for finite $`k>0`$, this mode always stays present. According to our numerical evidence the eigenfunction for $`E=0`$ can be interpreted as a fermion-Skyrmion bound state.

For larger $`B`$ we considered the ansatz $`f(\mu )=B\mu `$. This leads to $`B`$ modes crossing zero. We conjectured a connection between zero modes and certain singular points in the equation which in turn are connected to the winding number of the configuration.

## Acknowledgements

The author wants to thank N S Manton, H Pfeiffer and Y Shnir for many discussions during various stages of this project. The author also would like to thank J M Speight for many helpful suggestions and continuous support.