 O3 nonlinear sigma model

In two spatial dimensions, a unit-vector field $\mathbf{n}:{\mathbb{R}}^2\to S^2$ has static energy $E=\int |\nabla \mathbf{n}{|}^2{d}^{2}x/2$. The sphere is also the complex projective line, so its stereographic projection gives the equivalent complex field description. A constant value at spatial infinity compactifies a regular configuration to a map $S^2\to S^2$, whose degree of a map between oriented manifolds is its topological charge.