Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2021/iii/paper-308/3/solution

In the Rational map approximation for Skyrmions, stereographic coordinate describes the direction , and a degree- rational map defines a unit vector . The Skyrme model field is approximated by
Its baryon number is the degree of . Angular integration reduces the energy to a radial variational problem,
up to the conventional overall normalization, where the angular functional depends only on . One first minimizes among degree- maps and then minimizes over the profile . This efficiently captures the topology, energy, and polyhedral symmetries of many Skyrmions.
Let . Since ,
which is a fivefold spatial rotation accompanied by a target-space rotation. The real coefficients also give , while direct substitution gives
Together these transformations extend the cyclic symmetry to the stated symmetry.
For and , the Wronskian is
Besides , put . Then
Thus five zeros lie on the circle
at arguments , and five lie on the reciprocal circle at arguments . The polynomial has degree eleven, so the twelfth zero lies at . On the Riemann sphere, the zeros therefore form two opposite poles and two staggered pentagonal rings: the twelve vertices of an icosahedron.
The angular baryon-density factor is proportional to and vanishes at these critical directions. The Wronskian zeros therefore point toward twelve holes in the baryon-density surface. They are the face centers of the dodecahedral Skyrmion, equivalently the vertices of its dual icosahedron, and make its icosahedral symmetry visible directly in the rational map.

New to topics? Read the docs here!