A class of two-dimensional Yang-Mills vacua and their relation to the non-linear sigma model

A. Bassetto, G. Nardelli

Published 1997-11-26, updated 1997-12-22Version 2

Classical vacuum - pure gauge - solutions of Euclidean two-dimensional SU(2) Yang-Mills theories are studied. Topologically non-trivial vacua are found in a class of gauge group elements isomorphic to $S_2$. These solutions are unexpectedly related to the solution of the non-linear O(3) model and to the motion of a particle in a periodic potential.