Magnetic Helicity, Magnetic Monopoles, and Higgs Winding

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Fukuda, Hajime, Hamada, Yuta, Kamada, Kohei, Mukaida, Kyohei, Uchida, Fumio
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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_version_ 1866908607443894272
author Fukuda, Hajime
Hamada, Yuta
Kamada, Kohei
Mukaida, Kyohei
Uchida, Fumio
author_facet Fukuda, Hajime
Hamada, Yuta
Kamada, Kohei
Mukaida, Kyohei
Uchida, Fumio
contents Changes in magnetic helicity are often discussed across a variety of fields, from condensed matter physics to early universe cosmology. It is frequently stated that the helicity change is given by the integral of the gauge field strength tensor and its dual over spacetime, $\int F \wedge F$. However, this is incorrect when magnetic monopoles once exist in the spacetime. In this paper, we show the correct formula of the helicity change in such a case for the Maxwell theory with the magnetic monopoles. We also discuss what happens when we embed the Maxwell theory with magnetic monopoles into non-Abelian gauge theories. We show that a similar formula holds for the 't Hooft--Polyakov monopole. In particular, we find the winding numbers and the zeroes of the Higgs field in the non-Abelian gauge theory play a crucial role in the helicity change. The same discussion is also applicable to the electroweak theory, and we discuss the implication of our findings to the baryon number change via the chiral anomaly in the early universe.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_25734
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Magnetic Helicity, Magnetic Monopoles, and Higgs Winding
Fukuda, Hajime
Hamada, Yuta
Kamada, Kohei
Mukaida, Kyohei
Uchida, Fumio
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
High Energy Physics - Theory
Changes in magnetic helicity are often discussed across a variety of fields, from condensed matter physics to early universe cosmology. It is frequently stated that the helicity change is given by the integral of the gauge field strength tensor and its dual over spacetime, $\int F \wedge F$. However, this is incorrect when magnetic monopoles once exist in the spacetime. In this paper, we show the correct formula of the helicity change in such a case for the Maxwell theory with the magnetic monopoles. We also discuss what happens when we embed the Maxwell theory with magnetic monopoles into non-Abelian gauge theories. We show that a similar formula holds for the 't Hooft--Polyakov monopole. In particular, we find the winding numbers and the zeroes of the Higgs field in the non-Abelian gauge theory play a crucial role in the helicity change. The same discussion is also applicable to the electroweak theory, and we discuss the implication of our findings to the baryon number change via the chiral anomaly in the early universe.
title Magnetic Helicity, Magnetic Monopoles, and Higgs Winding
topic High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
High Energy Physics - Theory
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.25734