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# Dynamics of a simple evolutionary process

## I Introduction

Is there any progress in the way humans live together? Yee Yee01  has recently suggested a simple model for the development of law-by-precedent, which assumes that bad decisions of legal courts have a higher tendency to be overruled by later and/or higher court decisions, thus improving the quality of the law over time. Yee’s model can be thought of in general terms as an evolutionary process in which the least fit individuals in a population are successively removed and replaced by others BS93 . In this paper we study this process analytically, providing some exact results and confirming these results with numerical simulations.

In the model proposed by Yee, a large number of agents $`i=1\mathrm{}N`$, representing biological species, court decisions, firms, etc. CVV01 , each possess a fitness or quality $`e_i[0,1)`$. Initially the $`e_i`$ are uniformly distributed over their range. At each time-step, we find the individual that has the lowest fitness in the population and give it a new fitness which is chosen uniformly at random in the interval from zero to one. This model can be regarded as a simplified version of the Bak–Sneppen model of coevolution BS93 ; RJ94 , in which the least fit agent in a population and its neighbours on a $`d`$-dimensional lattice or other network are repeatedly removed and replaced with new agents with randomly chosen fitnesses. In the Bak–Sneppen model the agents typically represent species of organisms, and the replacement of neighbours arises as a result of interactions between species: host-parasite or prey-predator interactions, for instance SJ00 . In the case of court decisions and some other systems there is no strong case for such interactions and Yee thus omitted them, replacing instead only the element with the lowest fitness. Amongst other things this means that Yee’s model does not show the self-organized criticality that is the principal focus of study in the Bak–Sneppen model, but Yee’s model still has non-trivial behaviour.

Yee’s model is also reminiscent of the so-called “record dynamics” Feller67 ; SL93 , which is the process which describes the pattern formed by the highest value seen so far in a sequence of random numbers. In both models, the interesting behaviour comes largely from the non-equilibrium nature of the dynamics.

It is worth noting that one does not need to choose fitnesses from the uniform distribution for the results given in this paper to be valid. Since the dynamics of Yee’s model is determined solely by the ranking of the agents relative to one another and is unaffected by their absolute fitness, one is free to chose numbers from any (normalizable) distribution and the results will be identical. We use uniform random numbers solely for ease of analysis and simulation.

## II Analytic results

The basic form that the evolution of Yee’s model takes is clear. Suppose that $`x(t)`$ is the value of the lowest of the original distribution of fitnesses $`e_i`$ which has not yet been touched at time $`t`$. Then the distribution of fitnesses above this value must be uniform, since all fitnesses are chosen at random from the uniform distribution. At time-step $`t`$, finding the lowest fitness in the population, we replace it with a random number which with probability $`1x`$ falls above $`x`$ and hence is not the new lowest fitness. When this happens, the value of $`x`$ increases by an amount which is given by $`(1x)/N`$ on average, and hence the rate at which $`x`$ increases is

$$\frac{\mathrm{d}x}{\mathrm{d}t}=\frac{(1x)^2}{N}.$$
(1)
Defining a reduced time $`\tau =t/N`$, this has the solution

$$x(\tau )=\frac{\tau }{\tau +1}.$$
(2)
Thus, as we would expect, the lowest fitness in the population increases monotonically and tends to 1 as $`t\mathrm{}`$.

This however does not tell the whole story. As the value of $`x`$ increases, the chances of a new randomly chosen fitness falling above $`x`$ decreases, and so at longer times it takes more attempts at replacing the fitness value $`e_i`$ of an agent to find one which falls above $`x`$. Thus the dynamics of the model consists of “runs” of attempts at finding a new higher value for the fitness of the least fit agent.

Let us define a “run” to be the number of consecutive attempts to improve the fitness of a given agent until a new fitness is chosen which makes that agent no longer the least fit individual in the population. The probability that a new run starts at time $`t`$ is equal to the probability that the random number chosen at time $`t1`$ fell above $`x`$, which is $`1x=1/(\tau +1)`$. Thus the average length of a run at time $`t`$ is $`1/(1x)=\tau +1`$. The total number of runs from time $`0`$ until a final time $`t_f=N\tau _f`$ is

$$R=\underset{t=0}{\overset{t_f1}{}}\frac{1}{t/N+1}=N_0^{\tau _f}\frac{\mathrm{d}\tau }{\tau +1}=N\mathrm{log}(\tau _f+1),$$
(3)
where the integral becomes exact in the limit of large system size with $`\tau _f1`$. Since each agent is equally likely to be the least fit on each run, the average number of runs which affect each agent is $`R/N=\mathrm{log}(\tau _f+1)`$.

We can also calculate the complete distribution of the number $`k`$ of runs which affect any given agent. Since, again, each agent is equally likely to be the least fit on each run, this is simply a binomial distribution

$`p_k`$ $`=`$ $`\left({\displaystyle \genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{R}{k}}\right)\left[{\displaystyle \frac{1}{N}}\right]^k\left[1{\displaystyle \frac{1}{N}}\right]^{Rk}\left({\displaystyle \genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{R}{k}}\right){\displaystyle \frac{1}{N^k(\tau _f+1)}}`$ (4)
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{[\mathrm{log}(\tau _f+1)]^k}{k!(\tau _f+1)}},`$
where we have made use of the value of $`R`$ from Eq. (3), and the last two equalities become exact for large $`N`$. When $`k`$ is large, which it normally will be, one can further use Stirling’s approximation $`k!\sqrt{2\pi /k}(k/\mathrm{e})^k`$ to write this as

$$p_k\frac{\sqrt{k/2\pi }}{\tau _f+1}\left[\frac{\mathrm{e}\mathrm{log}(\tau _f+1)}{k}\right]^k.$$
(5)
The distribution of the lengths of runs can also be calculated exactly. At time $`t`$, the lowest fitness so far untouched is $`x`$, and the probability distribution of the lengths of runs is

$$p_n=x^{n1}(1x),$$
(6)
which is correctly normalized, as can easily be verified. Since the probability that a new run starts at time $`t`$ is $`1x`$, the overall probability distribution of the lengths of runs for the entire lifetime of the model is

$$P_n=\underset{t=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}x^{n1}(1x)^2.$$
(7)
Changing variables to $`\tau `$ again, using Eq. (2), and taking the limit of large $`N`$, the sum becomes an integral, and we find

$$P_n_0^{\mathrm{}}\frac{\tau ^{n1}}{(\tau +1)^{n+1}}d\tau =\frac{1}{n}.$$
(8)
The lengths of the individual intervals between the evolution of one agent and the next have a non-stationary, monotonically increasing average as time passes. But Eq. (8) indicates that if one calculates an average over all times of the distribution of intervals, it follows a power-law with exponent $`1`$. This is reminiscent of the behaviour of the record dynamics, which also shows such an $`n^1`$ law when averaged over all times NFST97 . An $`n^1`$ law also appears in thermal barrier-crossing processes, such as those governing the times between evolutionary events in the Bak–Sneppen model. And similar power-law behaviour is seen in real-world macroevolution, where the distribution of the times between evolutionary events is clearly non-stationary SSA95 . If we equate evolutionary events with species extinction, then the logarithmic behaviour (3) in the cumulated number of events and the power-law distribution of the intervals between them (8) seen in the model are identical to those seen in the fossil record of extinctions NE99 .

Note that the distribution (8) is not integrable and therefore cannot be normalized. In any real case however—in simulations of the model for example—the distribution is truncated by finite-time effects and is perfectly normalizable.

The total number of times that the fitness of a given agent gets changed during the course of the system’s life also shows interesting behaviour. In theory, the number of runs in which each agent takes part, which is distributed according to the binomial distribution, Eq. (4), becomes increasingly sharply peaked about its mean as $`\tau _f\mathrm{}`$. Variation in the number of times a given agent is hit will then be a result of variation only in which particular set of runs affect each agent. Such sets are chosen independently at random from the distribution (8). Since this is a non-normalizable distribution, the sum representing the total number of hits violates the central limit theorem—its distribution will have a central portion which is approximately normally distributed, but there will be a tail of high values that, like the underlying distribution, goes as $`1/n`$, being the result of rare but statistically significant outliers sampled from the tail of the original distribution.

In practice, however, since the number of runs in which an agent takes part increases only as the logarithm of $`\tau _f`$, Eq. (3), its value is small for all practical lifetimes of the system and hence shows substantial statistical fluctuation about its mean. In typical situations therefore, the variation in total number of hits an agent receives is dominated by these fluctuations, giving rise to a distribution which has an exponential tail. Only for exponentially long runs $`\mathrm{log}(\tau _f+1)1`$ will the power-law behaviour be seen. Long though they are, none of the simulations we have performed fall into this category.

## III Numerical results

Yee’s model is straightforward to simulate on a computer, but the naive method of simulation, in which one searches through all agents on each time-step to find the least fit, is slow—it takes time $`\mathrm{O}(N)`$ to perform the search and hence the entire simulation takes time $`\mathrm{O}(t_fN)=\mathrm{O}(\tau _fN^2)`$ to run for reduced time $`\tau _f`$. A better approach is to store the agents’ fitnesses in a binary heap (a partially ordered binary tree with its smallest value at its root). This data structure allows us to find the agent with the lowest fitness in time $`\mathrm{O}(1)`$, and add or remove agents in time $`\mathrm{O}(\mathrm{log}N)`$, improving the running time of the algorithm to $`\mathrm{O}(\tau _fN\mathrm{log}N)`$, which is fast enough for the simulation of quite large systems. For a description of the working and implementation of a binary heap, see for example Refs. Knuth73,  and AMO93, .

In Fig. 1 we show simulation results for $`x(\tau )`$ as a function of $`\tau `$, along with the exact solution (2), and as the figure shows, agreement between simulation and exact results is excellent. In Fig. 2 we show the total number of runs per site $`R/N`$ as a function of $`\tau `$ during a simulation, along with the expected mean result, Eq. (3), and again the agreement is good. In Fig. 3 we show on logarithmic scales a histogram of the distribution of the lengths $`n`$ of the intervals between evolutionary events. A straight-line fit to the data for smaller values of $`n`$ indicates that the distribution is following a power-law with exponent $`1.02\pm 0.01`$, in good agreement with the predicted exponent of $`1`$, Eq. (8). For larger values of $`n`$, deviation from the straight-line form is clearly visible in the region where $`n`$ is of the order of $`\tau _f`$ or greater, where $`\tau _f=1000`$ in this case.

## IV Conclusions

We have analysed the simple evolutionary process proposed by Yee Yee01  in which the agent with the lowest fitness in a large population is repeatedly removed and replaced with another having fitness chosen uniformly at random in a given interval. We have shown that many properties of the dynamics of this process can be calculated analytically. Using a numerical method employing a binary heap data structure, simulations of large realizations of the model are possible in reasonable time, and we have presented results from such simulations which confirm the analytic results.

## Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Amnon Aharony for useful conversations. This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation.


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# Diploid versus Haploid Organisms

## 1 Introduction

In a system where population is kept constant, competiton just allows the best individuals to survive, i.e. individuals which have less deleterious mutations and are better adapted to the current enviroment have a higher probability to survive. Haploid gametes reproduce by mitosis, mutations being the only source of variability, thus they cannot improve too much when reproducing. On the other hand, diploids could reproduce with crossings between two equivalent copies of genetic material, by meiotic parthenogenesis. This is supposed to be a more efficient way to improve the ability to adapt the population to the environment. The purpose of this work is to verify this hypothesis within a simple bit string model  of population dynamics.

The hypothesis of Jan, Stauffer and Moseley (JSM) proposes that haploid populations convert first into asexual diploid and then diploids begin to reproduce in a sexual way. This complete process has been studied in references , although they used a completely different model, with conversions (haploid $``$ diploid and asexual $``$ sexual) happening only for individuals with many deleterious mutations. In this case, sexual diploids finally dominate the system with a small fraction of asexual diploids and haploids.

In this work we show that in a system under competition, with an asexual population completely haploid at the beginning, and where with a small probability two haploids can fuse to create a diploid, evolution leads to a population dominated by diploids at the end. We also show that even the introduction of some dominant loci into the genetic material of diploids does not change too much this final result.

## 2 Models for the haploid-diploid cycle

We represent each haploid by a bit string of 1024 “0”’s and “1”’s, with a probability to survive given by: $`p_i=x^{N_i+1}`$, where $`N_i`$ is the number of “1”’s in the bit string representing individual $`i`$. Every time step each haploid reproduces by duplicating its bit string and some $`M_H`$ random mutations are performed in this new individual, say $`M_H=1`$, by flipping $`M_H`$ randomly chosen bits from 0 to 1 or vice-versa.

After this breeding process applied to all individuals, in order to keep the population almost constant, fluctuating around some number $`P_o`$, say $`P_o=10000`$, we determine the value of $`x`$ by solving equation:

$$\underset{N=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}H(N)x^{N+1}=P_o$$
(1)
where $`H(N)`$ is the number of haploids with $`N`$ “1”’s into their bit string. Already knowing the value of $`x`$, we test each individual $`i`$ of the population, to keep it alive according to the probability $`x^{N_i+1}`$, killing it otherwise. All this represent one time step, where all individuals reproduce first and then each one is tested to survive (including newborns).

For a population of diploids, we represent each individual by two parallel bit strings of 1024 “0”’s and “1”’s. At each time step, every diploid reproduce by meiotic parthenogenesis. Both strings are cut in the same random position and a new bit string is constructed by joinning one randomly chosen piece with the complementary piece of the other string. Then, we copy this new bit string in order to have two bit strings representing this new diploid. Finally, $`M_D`$ mutations, say $`M_D=2`$, are randomly performed.

The probability to survive in this case is also given by: $`p_i=x^{N_i+1}`$, but now $`N_i`$ represents the number of coincident positions with “1”’s in both bit strings (homozygous loci). We can also consider some dominant positions along the bit strings: in this case, just one “1” bit at this position (locus) is enough to contribute to $`N_i`$.

### 2.1 Populations without exchange

First we study how two populations (one haploid and the other diploid) develop living together under the same environment, but with no possibility of haploids becoming diploids or vice-versa. We begin a population of $`P_o/2`$ haploids and $`P_o/2`$ diploids. At each time step, both kinds of individuals reproduce following the rules already quoted, using the same $`x`$, and we perform the sum of equation (1) over all haploids and diploids in order to keep the whole population constant.

Figure 1 shows the number of haploids and diploids evolving with time. Most of the time diploids dominate the whole system, and eventually no haploid survives. The same behaviour was observed for different runs.

This situation does not change too much if we include some dominant positions for diploids, that is, less than 50% of dominant positions. Only for an unrealistic situation where more than 50% of positions are dominant, we can see some instances where the haploids dominate the system.

### 2.2 Exchange (diploids with only recessive positions)

#### 2.2.1 No return

Now we begin with a population totally haploid, but each individual has a small probability $`P_{HD}`$, say $`P_{HD}=0.01`$, to randomly choose another individual to fuse and form a diploid, instead of normal reproduction. The fused diploid has the two bit strings of those haploids. Otherwise, this haploid reproduces in the normal way. During the evolution, diploids also reproduce according to the same rules explained before.

In this case we can see that the population becomes totally diploid, after few steps. Using different values of $`P_{HD}`$ we just change the number of steps needed to converge to an only-diploid population.

#### 2.2.2 With return

Now, we add some probability $`P_{DH}`$, that a diploid transform itself into two haploids, each one with one of the bit strings from the diploid, with some $`M_H`$ mutations.

In Nature this backward transformation is supposed to be harder to happen than the first case (haploid $`+`$ haploid $``$ diploid). The diploid organism needs to divide its genetic material in just two equal parts, otherwise at least the smallest part which misses genetic material will die before reproduction.

For this case we observed that diploids still dominate the system but there is a small fraction of haploids at the end, which are products of the continuous transformation of some diploids into haploids. In figure 2 we see the fraction of diploids in the population as a function of the back probability $`P_{DH}`$. These results are obtained as an average over many steps, after equilibrium has been reached. Althougth some extreme values of $`P_{DH}`$ are taken (as $`P_{DH}=P_{HD}`$ corresponding to the rightmost point), we can see that diploid individuals always dominate the population.

### 2.3 Exchange (diploids with recessive and dominant positions)

#### 2.3.1 No return

Now, we repeat the same experiment explained before, but consider some percentage $`D`$ of dominant loci for the diploids. As before, some haploids become diploids at each step, with no diploid becoming haploid. As a result, again, after some steps the whole population becomes diploid with no haploids in the final equilibrium configuration. This result is independent of the value of $`D`$: even an extreme value of $`D`$ ($`D=100\%`$) just delay the final situation by some steps.

#### 2.3.2 With return

If we let diploids to return back to haploids with some probability $`P_{DH}`$ and we also consider some dominant positions for diploids, the results obtained before do not change qualitatively, as we can see in figure 3. The fraction of diploids at the equilibrium situation is plotted for different values of $`D`$, and for fixed values of $`P_{HD}=0.01`$ and $`P_{DH}=0.005`$, taken as an example.

## 3 Discussion

In order to study the most efficient kind of behaviour (haploid versus diploid), we considered systems where competiton allows to survive only a pre-determined number of individuals. Of course, these selected individuals will be the best adapted to the environment, presenting a small number of deleterious mutations.

Diploid reproduction is more efficient to improve new generations than haploid reproduction. The final population is dominated by diploids, and haploids are present only if we let some diploids to become haploids.

The presence of some dominant loci in diploids does not change the results. In the limiting case $`P_{DH}=0`$ (no diploid returns back to haploid condition), dominance just modifies a little bit the equilibration time, but eventually we have no haploids anyway.

##### Acknowledgements

We thank Dietrich Stauffer for his comments about this work.


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# Comment on “New Vortex-Matter Size Effect Observed in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ”

The Letter of Wang et al.  is related to the recently discovered vanishing of the second magnetization peak (SMP) in high-$`T_c`$ superconductors reducing the sample size . This phenomenon has been interpreted  in terms of thermomagnetic instability (TMI) effects. The TMI approach has also been adopted by Wang et al. in their previous work  on the critical sample size temperature dependence $`R_{cr}(T)`$ measured in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ (Bi2212) single crystals. In contrast, in the recently published Letter  the authors claimed that the $`R_{cr}(T)`$ obtained for Bi2212 crystals is at odds with the TMI model and proposed an alternative explanation of the results assuming that the SMP vanishes as the sample width (or diameter) becomes smaller than the in-plane vortex correlation length $`R_c^{2D}(T)J_c(T)^{1/2}`$, where $`J_c(T)`$ is the critical current density. We demonstrate below that the authors conclusion is misleading.

First of all, we stress that the authors used criterion for the occurrence of the SMP $`R(T)R_c^{2D}(T)R_{cr}(T)`$ contradicts the low-temperature results. Indeed, the SMP in Bi2212 does not occur at temperatures below $`15`$K$`\mathrm{}`$20 K in crystals of mm size, i.e. with $`RR_{cr}(T)`$ (see  and refs. therein).

Next, the reported $`R_{cr}(T)`$  agrees very well with the TMI scenario. Figure 1(a) shows the $`R_{cr}(T)`$ data from . The solid line in Fig.1(a) is obtained from the equation for the critical sample size according to the TMI theory

$$R_{cr}(100\pi C(T)/16J_c(T)J_c/T)^{1/2},$$
(1)
where we assumed for the specific heat $`CT^3`$ and $`J_c(T)\mathrm{exp}(T/T_0)`$ . As Fig. 1(a) demonstrates Eq. (1) fits nicely the experimental data. For a quantitative comparison precise knowledge of $`C(T)`$ and $`J_c(T)`$ for the measured samples is required.

Moreover, $`R_{cr}(T)`$ obtained for Bi2212  is similar to that reported for Nb films , where it has unambiguously been demonstrated that $`R_{cr}(T)`$ separates the adiabatic and isothermal critical states. This similarity is illustrated in Fig.1(b) where the effective critical sample size $`s_{cr}=(wd/2)^{1/2}`$  is plotted vs. $`T/T_c`$ for both superconductors, with $`w`$ and $`d`$ being the sample width (or diameter) and thickness.

In  we argued that TMI in Bi2212 is triggered by plastic vortex motion which ceases for $`T<15`$K$`\mathrm{}`$20 K, providing us a natural explanation for the SMP vanishing at low temperatures. Summarizing, the results reported in  are in good agreement with the TMI scenario of the sample-size-dependent SMP in Bi2212 and partially contradict the authors conclusion.


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# Three-Family Supersymmetric Standard-like Models from Intersecting Brane Worlds

\[

## Abstract

We construct the first three family $`N=1`$ supersymmetric string model with Standard Model gauge group $`SU(3)_C\times SU(2)_L\times U(1)_Y`$ from an orientifold of type IIA theory on $`𝐓^6/(𝐙_2\times 𝐙_2)`$ and D6-branes intersecting at angles. In addition to the minimal supersymmetric Standard Model particles, the model contains right-handed neutrinos, a chiral (but anomaly-free) set of exotic multiplets, and extra vector-like multiplets. We discuss some phenomenological features of this model.

preprint: UPR-948-T, CERN-TH/2001-190

\]

The space of classical string vacua is highly degenerate, and at present we are unable to make definitive statements about how the string vacuum describing our universe is selected. Nonetheless, one can use phenomenological constraints as guidelines to construct semi-realistic string models and explore, with judicious assumptions, the resulting phenomenology. The purpose of such explorations is of course not to find the model which would fully describe our world, but to examine the generic features of these string derived solutions.

Until a few years ago, such explorations were carried out mainly in the framework of weakly coupled heterotic string theory. Indeed, a number of semi-realistic string models have been constructed and analyzed . However, an important lesson from string duality is that these models represent only a corner of M-theory – the string vacuum describing our world may well be in a completely different regime in which the perturbative description of heterotic string theory breaks down . Fortunately, the advent of D-branes allows for the construction of semi-realistic string models in another calculable regime, as illustrated by the various four-dimensional $`N=1`$ supersymmetric Type II orientifolds ( and references therein) constructed using conformal field theory techniques. However, the constraints on supersymmetric four-dimensional models are rather restrictive, leading to not fully realistic gauge sectors and matter contents. Motivated by the search for Standard Model-like solutions, several discrete or continuous deformations of this class of models have been explored. They include: (i) blowing-up of orientifold singularities , which cannot be described by a free world-sheet conformal field theory, hence the spacetime spectrum can only be computed using field theory techniques, (ii) locating the branes at different points in the internal space (see e.g. ) which in a T-dual picture corresponds to turning on continuous or discrete Wilson lines, (iii) introduction of discrete values for the NS-NS $`B`$ field  which in the T-dual picture corresponds to tilting the compactification tori, (iv) introduction of gauge fluxes in the D-brane world-volumes (see  for an earlier discussion, and  for supersymmetric $`D=6`$ models), which in the T-dual version corresponds to D-branes intersecting at angles (hence closely related to models in ).

An appealing feature of (iv) is that generically, there exists chiral fermions where D-branes intersect . Their multiplicity is hence determined by a topological quantity, i.e. the intersection number of the branes. Models with D-branes intersecting at arbitrary angles are non-supersymmetric. For non-supersymmetric models, Ramond-Ramond (RR) tadpole cancellation conditions are less constraining , a fact exploited to construct semi-realistic models in , and more recently in  in the context of intersecting branes. However, non-supersymmetric models suffer from a less understood, complicated dynamics. At the quantum level, flat directions are lifted, leading to involved stabilization problems. In addition uncancelled NS-NS tadpoles require redefining the background geometry . These difficulties are the main reasons that we focus on the construction of string models with $`N=1`$ supersymmetry.

The purpose of this letter is to present the first example of a four-dimensional $`N=1`$ supersymmetric type IIA orientifold with D6-branes intersecting at angles, leading to Standard Model gauge group (as part of the gauge group structure) and three quark-lepton families. Beyond the structure of the minimal supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM), the model contains some additional gauge factors, right-handed neutrinos, a chiral set of fields with exotic standard model gauge quantum numbers, and diverse vector-like multiplets. Despite its lack of fully realistic features, it provides the first construction of supersymmetric Standard Model-like string models in the setup of (non-trivial) intersecting brane worlds. Interestingly, since only D6-branes and O6-planes are involved, the M-theory lift of this general class of supersymmetric orientifold models corresponds to purely geometrical backgrounds admitting a $`G_2`$ holonomy metric and leading to chiral four-dimensional fermions.

We shall provide the key features of the construction, the gauge group structure and the massless spectrum. The details of the construction, consistency condition,s as well as a broader class of models (including examples of grand unified theories) will be presented in a longer companion paper .

The construction of the model is based on an orientifold of type IIA on $`𝐓^6/(𝐙_2\times 𝐙_2)`$ (related to  by T-duality), with D6-branes not parallel to the orientifold 6-planes (O6-planes). The generators $`\theta `$, $`\omega `$ act as $`\theta :(z_1,z_2,z_3)(z_1,z_2,z_3)`$, and $`\omega :(z_1,z_2,z_3)(z_1,z_2,z_3)`$ on the complex coordinates $`z_i`$ of $`𝐓^6`$, which we moreover choose to be factorizable. The orientifold action is $`\mathrm{\Omega }R`$, where $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is world-sheet parity, and $`R`$ acts by $`R:(z_1,z_2,z_3)(\overline{z}_1,\overline{z}_2,\overline{z}_3)`$. The model contains four kinds of O6-planes, associated to the actions of $`\mathrm{\Omega }R`$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }R\theta `$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }R\omega `$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }R\theta \omega `$. We will focus on the open string (charged) spectrum. The closed string sector contains gravitational supermultiplets as well as orbifold moduli and is straightforward to determine. The cancellation of the RR crosscap tadpoles requires an introduction of $`K`$ stacks of $`N_a`$ D6-branes ($`a=1,\mathrm{},K`$) wrapped on three-cycles (taken to be the product of 1-cycles $`(n_a^i,m_a^i)`$ in the $`i^{th}`$ two-torus), and their images under $`\mathrm{\Omega }R`$, wrapped on cycles $`(n_a^i,m_a^i)`$.

The rules to compute the spectrum are analogous to those in . Consequently models with all tori orthogonal lead to even number of families. Hence we consider models with one tilted $`T^2`$, where the tilting parameter is discrete and has a unique non-trivial value . This mildly modifies the closed string sector, but has an important impact on the open string sector. Namely, a D-brane 1-cycle $`(n_a^i,m_a^i)`$ along a tilted torus is mapped to $`(n^i,m^in^i)`$. It is convenient to define $`\stackrel{~}{m}^i=m^i\frac{1}{2}n^i`$, and label the cycles as $`(n^i,\stackrel{~}{m}^i)`$.

The orbifold actions on the Chan-Paton indices of the branes, for each stack of D6a-branes, and their $`\mathrm{\Omega }R`$ images, denoted by D6$`_a^{}`$-branes, are as follows:

$`\gamma _{\theta ,a}=\mathrm{diag}(i\mathrm{𝟏}_{N_a/2},i\mathrm{𝟏}_{N_a/2};i\mathrm{𝟏}_{N_a/2},i\mathrm{𝟏}_{N_a/2})`$ (1)
(2)
$`\gamma _{\omega ,a}=\mathrm{diag}[\left(\begin{array}{cc}0& \mathrm{𝟏}_{N_a/2}\\ \mathrm{𝟏}_{N_a/2}& 0\end{array}\right);\left(\begin{array}{cc}0& \mathrm{𝟏}_{N_a/2}\\ \mathrm{𝟏}_{N_a/2}& 0\end{array}\right)]`$ (3)
(4)
$`\gamma _{\mathrm{\Omega }R,a}=\left(\begin{array}{cccc}& & \mathrm{𝟏}_{N_a/2}& 0\\ & & 0& \mathrm{𝟏}_{N_a/2}\\ \mathrm{𝟏}_{N_a/2}& 0& & \\ 0& \mathrm{𝟏}_{N_a/2}& & \end{array}\right)`$ (5)
The model is constrained by RR tadpole cancellation conditions. In $`\mathrm{\Omega }R`$ orientifolds twisted tadpoles vanish automatically , whereas untwisted RR tadpoles require cancellation of D6-brane and O6-plane 7-form charges. For models with a tilted third two-torus, they read

$`{\displaystyle \underset{a}{}}N_an_a^1n_a^2n_a^316`$ $`=`$ $`0`$ (6)
$`{\displaystyle \underset{a}{}}N_an_a^1m_a^2\stackrel{~}{m}_a^3+8`$ $`=`$ $`0`$ (7)
$`{\displaystyle \underset{a}{}}N_am_a^1n_a^2\stackrel{~}{m}_a^3+8`$ $`=`$ $`0`$ (8)
$`{\displaystyle \underset{a}{}}N_am_a^1m_a^2n_a^3+16`$ $`=`$ $`0`$ (9)
The solutions of the above equations define a consistent model; the construction of the resulting spectrum is discussed in detail in . Here we only summarize the results for D6-branes not parallel to O6-planes (for zero angles, the spectrum follows from ). The $`aa`$ sector (strings stretched within a single stack of D6a-branes) is invariant under $`\theta `$, $`\omega `$, and is exchanged with $`a^{}a^{}`$ by the action of $`\mathrm{\Omega }R`$. For the gauge group, the $`\theta `$ projection breaks $`U(N_a)`$ to $`U(N_a/2)\times U(N_a/2)`$, and $`\omega `$ identifies both factors, leaving $`U(N_a/2)`$. Concerning the matter multiplets, we obtain three adjoint $`N=1`$ chiral multiplets.

The $`ab+ba`$ sector, strings streched between D6a\- and D6b-branes, is invariant, as a whole, under the orbifold projections, and is mapped to the $`b^{}a^{}+a^{}b^{}`$ sector by $`\mathrm{\Omega }R`$. The matter content before any projection would be given by $`I_{ab}`$ chiral fermions in the bifundamental $`(N_a,\overline{N}_b)`$ of $`U(N_a)\times U(N_b)`$, where

$`I_{ab}=\left(n_a^1m_b^1n_b^1m_a^1\right)\left(n_a^2m_b^2n_b^2m_a^2\right)\left(n_a^3\stackrel{~}{m}_b^3n_b^3\stackrel{~}{m}_a^3\right)`$ (10)
is the intersection number of the wrapped cycles, and the sign of $`I_{ab}`$ denotes the chirality of the corresponding fermion ($`I<0`$ giving left-handed fermions in our convention). For supersymmetric intersections, additional massless scalars complete the corresponding chiral supermultiplet. In principle, one needs to take into account the orbifold action on the intersection point. However the final result turns out to be insensitive to this subtletly and is still given by $`I_{ab}`$ chiral multiplets in the $`(N_a/2,\overline{N_b/2})`$ of $`U(N_a/2)\times U(N_b/2)`$. A similar effect takes place in $`ab^{}+b^{}a`$ sector, for $`ab`$, where the final matter content is given by $`I_{ab^{}}`$ chiral multiplets in the bifundamental $`(N_a/2,N_b/2)`$.

For the $`aa^{}+a^{}a`$ sector the orbifold action on the intersection points turns out to be crucial. For intersection points invariant under the orbifold, the orientifold projection leads to a two-index antisymmetric representation of $`U(N_a/2)`$, except for states with $`\theta `$ and $`\omega `$ eigenvalue $`+1`$, where it yields a two-index symmetric representation. For points not fixed under some orbifold element, say two points fixed under $`\omega `$ and exchanged by $`\theta `$, one simply keeps one point, and does not impose the $`\omega `$ projection. Equivalently, one considers all possible eigenvalues for $`\omega `$, and applies the above rule to read off whether the symmetric or the antisymmetric survives. A closed formula for the chiral piece in this sector is given in .

The condition that the system of branes preserve the $`N=1`$ supersymmetry requires  that each stack of D6-branes is related to the O6-planes by a rotation in $`SU(3)`$: denoting by $`\theta _i`$ the angles the D6-brane forms with the horizontal direction in the $`i^{th}`$ two-torus, supersymmetry preserving configurations must satisfy $`\theta _1+\theta _2+\theta _3=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0}`$. In order to simplify the supersymmetry conditions within our search for realistic models, we will consider a particular ansatz: $`(\theta _1,\theta _2,0)`$, $`(\theta _1,0,\theta _3)`$ or $`(0,\theta _2,\theta _3)`$.

Due to the smaller number of O6-planes in tilted configurations, the RR tadpoles conditions are very stringent for more than one tilted torus. Focusing on tilting just the third torus, the search for theories with $`U(3)`$ and $`U(2)`$ gauge factors carried by branes at angles and three left-handed quarks, turns out to be very constraining, at least within our ansatz. We have found essentially a unique solution. The D6-brane configuration with wrapping numbers $`(n_a^i,\stackrel{~}{m}_a^i)`$ is given in Table I.

The $`8`$ D6-branes labeled $`C_1`$ are spit in two parallel but not overlapping stacks of $`6`$ and $`2`$ branes, hence lead to a gauge group $`U(3)\times U(1)`$. Interestingly, a linear combination of the two $`U(1)`$’s is actually a generator within the $`SU(4)`$ arising for coincident branes. This ensures that this $`U(1)`$ is automatically non-anomalous and massless (free of linear couplings to untwisted moduli) , and turns out to be crucial in the appearance of hypercharge in this model.

For convenience we consider the $`8`$ D6-branes labeled $`A_1`$ to be away from the O6-planes in all three complex planes. This leads to two D6-branes that can move independently (hence give rise to a group $`U(1)^2`$), plus their $`\theta `$, $`\omega `$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }R`$ images. These $`U(1)`$’s are also automatically non-anomalous and massless. In the effective theory, this corresponds to Higgsing of $`USp(8)`$ down to $`U(1)^2`$.

The open string spectrum is tabulated in Table II. The generators $`Q_3`$, $`Q_1`$ and $`Q_2`$ refer to the $`U(1)`$ factor within the corresponding $`U(n)`$, while $`Q_8`$, $`Q_8^{}`$ are the $`U(1)`$’s arising from the $`USp(8)`$. The hypercharge is defined as:

$`Q_Y`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{6}}Q_3{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}Q_1+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}(Q_8+Q_8^{})`$ (11)
From the above comments, $`Q_Y`$ as defined guarantees that $`U(1)_Y`$ is massless. The theory contains three Standard Model families, plus one exotic chiral (but anomaly-free) set of fields, and multiplets with vector-like quantum numbers under the SM gauge group.

Even though the model is an explicit string realization of the brane world scenario, the string scale is of the order of four-dimensional Planck scale because Standard Model gauge interactions are embedded in different D6-branes. The experimental bounds on Kaluza-Klein replica of Standard Model gauge bosons imply that the internal dimensions cannot be large .

Quarks, leptons and Higgs fields live at different intersections, hence the Yukawa couplings among the Higgs and two fermions arise from a string worldsheet of area $`A_{ijk}`$ (measured in string units) stretching between the three intersections , $`Y_{ijk}\mathrm{exp}(A_{ijk})`$. Note that one family of quarks and leptons do not have renormalizable couplings with the Higgs field, due to the uncancelled $`Q_2`$ charges, and the only chiral multiplets which carry opposite $`Q_2`$ charges are charged under the weak $`SU(2)`$.

This model is supersymmetric for some specific choice of complex structure moduli, which determine the angles satisfying the supersymmetry condition. The supersymmetry breaking effect when the condition is violated is reflected as a Fayet-Iliopoulos term for the $`U(1)`$ gauge fields. It is proportional to the deviation from the supersymmetric limit, and reproduces correctly the tachyonic scalar masses, and zero fermion masses. The corresponding D-term is expected to be cancelled by vacuum expectation values (VEVs) of the tachyonic scalar fields, hence shifting the configuration to a corrected vacuum, where some intersecting D6-branes are recombined, triggering gauge symmetry breaking.

It is quite remarkable that these chiral models are related to the non-chiral model of , by recombinations of the 3-cycles on which the D6-branes wrap. This is the T-dual of a $`D=4`$ version of the small instanton transition . Clearly, our search is in no sense exhaustive. There exist different variants, in the framework descibed here, obtained by, e.g., (i) changing the additional branes not directly involved in the SM structure, (ii) allowing branes rotated at an angle in all three tori, and (iii) compactifying Type IIA orientifold on a different orbifold which preserves $`N=1`$ supersymmetry. However, within our ansatz for the angles in the case of $`𝐙_\mathrm{𝟐}\times 𝐙_\mathrm{𝟐}`$ orbifold, the requirements of supersymmetry, Standard Model-like gauge group and number of chiral families are rather stringent, and the model presented here is relatively unique. Let us note that D6-branes wrapping around supersymmetric 3-cycles with three non-trivial angles, say $`(n_i,m_i)=(1,1)\times (1,1)\times (1,1)`$, contribute to some (but not all) tadpole conditions with the same sign as that of an O6-plane – a feature which is absent when all the D6-branes are parallel to some O6-planes. It would be interesting to explore such variants to eliminate the additional vector-like matter and the extra exotics. We leave this for further investigation.

###### Acknowledgements.

We thank Gerardo Aldazabal, Savas Dimopoulos, Jens Erler, Jaume Gomis, Luis Ibáñez, Paul Langacker, Raul Rabadán, Matt Strassler for discussions. M.C. and G.S. thank the Theory Division at CERN for hospitality during the course of the work. A.M.U. thanks M. González for kind encouragement and support. This work was supported in part by U.S. Department of Energy Grant No. DOE-EY-76-02-3071 (M.C.), in part by the Class of 1965 Endowed Term Chair (M.C.), UPenn SAS Dean’s funds (G.S.) and the NATO Linkage grant 97061 (M.C.).


text:
# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

The possibility of having large extra dimensions has been considered in recent works as a solution of the hierarchy problem. In this proposal, the most relevant scale would be the Planck scale in $`D=4+n`$ dimensions $`M_D`$, which is assumed to be not too far from the TeV scale. In the original approach , the much larger value of the 4-dimensional Planck constant would be due to the size of the extra dimensions, since we typically have $`M_P^2R^nM_D^{n+2}`$, where $`R`$ is the radius of the compactified extra dimensions. Phenomenological considerations then require that, whereas gravity can propagate in the D-dimensional bulk space, the ordinary matter fields and gauge bosons be bound to live on a 3-dimensional brane, which would constitute the usual spatial dimensions. The brane tension $`f`$ is the other important scale in this scenario, $`f^1`$ being the typical size of the brane fluctuations.

Special attention has been paid to the description of the low-energy sector of the model. This sector would include the Standard Model (SM) fields, the gravitons and the possible excitations of the brane . The presence of extra dimensions allows for the existence, in addition to the standard massless gravitons in four dimensions, of an infinite tower of massive gravitons (Kaluza–Klein  gravitons) whose mass is determined by the size of the extra dimensions (see for example  for a review of different Kaluza–Klein models). The interaction of the graviton sector with the SM fields has been analysed in a series of papers  and different predictions have been obtained that could be tested at future particle colliders. However, in addition to the gravitons, the low-energy spectrum of the theory also contains the brane’s own excitations (branons). If the brane has been spontaneously created with a given shape in the bulk (that we will consider as its ground state), the initial isometries of the bulk space could be broken spontaneously by the presence of the brane. The brane configurations obtained by means of some isometry transformations in the bulk will be considered as equivalent ground states and therefore the parameters describing such transformations can be considered as zero-mode excitations of the ground state. When such transformations are made local (depending on the position on the brane), the corresponding parameters play the role of Goldstone bosons (GB) fields of the isometry breaking. Moreover, it has been shown that, in the case where the brane tension $`f`$ is much smaller than the fundamental scale $`M_D`$ $`(fM_D)`$, the non-zero KK modes decouple from the GB modes  and it is then possible, at least in principle, to make a low-energy effective theory description of the GB dynamics. On the other hand, in the standard Kaluza–Klein models, the isometries in the extra dimensions are understood as gauge transformations in the four-dimensional theory. Therefore, since the GB are associated to the breaking of those gauge transformations, it is natural to expect  that some kind of Higgs mechanism can take place, which would give mass to the Kaluza–Klein gauge bosons.

In addition to the branons, the brane can support also a new set of topological states. These states are defects that appear due to the non-trivial homotopies of the vacuum manifold . In particular the authors of this reference have considered the case of string and monopole defects on the brane, corresponding to non-trivial first and second homotopy groups.

In this work we are interested in another kind of defects of topological nature related to the Skyrme model . In this model, the baryons are understood as topological solitons that appear in the low-energy pion dynamics described by a chiral lagrangian, the baryon number being identified with the topological charge. This model has provided a very successful description of the baryon properties . The branon effective action mentioned before is formally similar  to the chiral lagrangians used for the low-energy description of the chiral dynamics  or even the symmetry breaking sector of the Standard Model in the strongly coupled case . Therefore it is quite natural to wonder about the possibility of having chiral solitons (Skyrmions) arising from this effective action. As we will show the answer is positive. In the following we will study in detail those brane-skyrmions, their physical and geometrical interpretation, their main properties and their relation with wrapped states.

The plan of the paper goes as follows: In Sec.2 we introduce our set up and obtain the brane GB effective action starting from a generalized brane action that includes an induced scalar curvature term. This term will be essential in order to determine the brane-skyrmion size. In Sec.3, we describe the Higgs-like mechanism we have commented before. In Sec.4 we derive the coupling of branons with the SM fields. Sec.5 is devoted to the equations for the brane-skyrmions and there we also compute analytically their size and mass in terms of the different parameters involved. In Sec.6 we consider the interacions between the brane-skyrmions and branons and the possible fermionic quantization. In Sec.7 we consider another set of brane states (wrapped states) and study their relation with the brane-skyrmions. Finally, in Sec.8 we set the main results of our work and the conclusions.

## 2 The effective action for the branons

Let us start by fixing the notation and the main assumptions used in the work. We consider that the four-dimensional space-time $`M_4`$ is embedded in a $`D`$-dimensional bulk space that for simplicity we will assume to be of the form $`M_D=M_4\times B`$, where $`B`$ is a given N-dimensional compact manifold so that $`D=4+N`$. The brane lies along $`M_4`$ and we neglect its contribution to the bulk gravitational field. The coordinates parametrizing the points in $`M_D`$ will be denoted by $`(x^\mu ,y^m)`$, where the different indices run as $`\mu =0,1,2,3`$ and $`m=1,2,\mathrm{},N`$. The bulk space $`M_D`$ is endowed with a metric tensor that we will denote by $`G_{MN}`$, with signature $`(+,,\mathrm{},)`$. For simplicity, we will consider the following ansatz:

$`G_{MN}`$ $`=`$ $`\left(\begin{array}{cccc}\stackrel{~}{g}_{\mu \nu }(x)& 0& & \\ 0& \stackrel{~}{g}_{mn}^{}(y)& & \end{array}\right).`$ (3)
In the absence of the 3-brane, this metric possesses an isometry group that we will assume to be of the form $`G(M_D)=G(M_4)\times G(B)`$. The presence of the brane spontaneously breaks this symmetry down to some subgroup $`G(M_4)\times H`$. Therefore, we can introduce the coset space $`K=G(M_D)/(G(M_4)\times H)=G(B)/H`$, where $`HG(B)`$ is a suitable subgroup of $`G(B)`$.

The position of the brane in the bulk can be parametrized as $`Y^M=(x^\mu ,Y^m(x))`$, where we have chosen the bulk coordinates so that the first four are identified with the space-time brane coordinates $`x^\mu `$. We assume the brane to be created at a certain point in $`B`$, i.e. $`Y^m(x)=Y_0^m`$ which corresponds to its ground state. The induced metric on the brane in such state is given by the four-dimensional components of the bulk space metric, i.e. $`g_{\mu \nu }=\stackrel{~}{g}_{\mu \nu }=G_{\mu \nu }`$. However, when brane excitations (branons) are present, the induced metric is given by

$`g_{\mu \nu }=_\mu Y^M_\nu Y^NG_{MN}=\stackrel{~}{g}_{\mu \nu }_\mu Y^m_\nu Y^n\stackrel{~}{g}_{mn}^{}.`$ (4)
For illustrative purposes we show a toy model in Fig. 1 where we have a 1-brane (string) in a $`M_3=M_2\times S^1`$ bulk-space, both in its ground state (flat brane) and in an excited state (wavy brane).

Since the mechanism responsible for the creation of the brane is in principle unknown, we will assume that the brane dynamics can be described by an effective action. Thus, we will consider the most general expression which is invariant under reparametrizations of the brane coordinates. Following the philosophy of the effective lagrangian technique, we will also organize the action as a series in the number of the derivatives of the induced metric over a dimensional constant, which can be identified with the brane tension scale $`f`$. Therefore, up to second order in derivatives we find:

$$S_B=_{M_4}d^4x\sqrt{g}\left(f^4+\lambda f^2R+\mathrm{}\right),$$
(5)
where $`d^4x\sqrt{g}`$ is the volume element of the brane, $`R`$ the induced curvature and $`\lambda `$ an unknown dimensionless parameter. Notice that the lowest order term is the usual Dirac-Nambu-Goto action that was the only one considered in .

If the brane ground state is $`Y^m(x)=Y_0^m`$, the presence of the brane will break spontaneously all the $`B`$ isometries, except those that leave the point $`Y_0`$ unchanged. In other words the group $`G(B)`$ is spontaneously broken down to $`H(Y_0)`$, where $`H(Y_0)`$ denotes the isotropy group (or little group) of the point $`Y_0`$. Let $`H_i`$ be the $`H`$ generators ($`i=1,2,\mathrm{}h`$), $`X_\alpha `$ ($`\alpha =1,2,\mathrm{}k=\text{dim}G(B)\text{dim}H`$) the broken generators, and $`T=(H,X)`$ the complete set of generators of $`G(B)`$. A similar separation can be done with the Killing fields. We will denote $`\xi _i`$ those associated to the $`H_i`$ generators, $`\xi _\alpha `$ those corresponding to $`X_\alpha `$ and by $`\xi _a(y)`$ the complete set of Killing vectors on $`B`$. The excitations of the brane along the (broken) Killing fields directions of $`B`$ correspond to the zero modes and they are parametrized by the branon fields $`\pi ^\alpha (x)`$ that can be understood as coordinates on the coset manifold $`K=G(B)/H`$. Thus, for a position-independent ground state $`Y_0^m`$, the action of an element of $`G(B)`$ on $`B`$ will map $`Y_0`$ into some other point with coordinates:

$$Y^m(x)=Y^m(Y_0,\pi ^\alpha (x))=Y_0^m+\frac{1}{kf^2}\xi _\alpha ^m(Y_0)\pi ^\alpha (x)+𝒪(\pi ^2),$$
(6)
where we have set the appropriate normalization of the branon fields and Killing fields with $`k^2=16\pi /M_P^2`$. It is important to note that the coordinates of the transformed point depend only on $`\pi ^\alpha (x)`$, i.e. on the parameters of the transformations corresponding to the broken generators. The rest of the transformations (corresponding to the $`H`$ subgroup) leave the vacuum unchanged and therefore they are not GB. Thus not all the isometries will give rise to zero modes of the brane. When the $`B`$ space is homogeneous, the isotropy group does not depend on the particular point we choose, i.e, $`H(Y_0)=H`$ and it is possible to prove that $`B`$ is diffeomorphic to $`K=G(B)/H`$, i.e. the number of GB equals the dimension of $`B`$.

According to the previous discussion, we can write the brane effective action in terms of branon fields using:

$$_\mu Y^m(x)=\frac{Y^m}{\pi ^\alpha }_\mu \pi ^\alpha =\frac{1}{kf^2}\xi _\alpha ^m(Y_0)_\mu \pi ^\alpha +𝒪(\pi ^2)$$
(7)
and, therefore, introducing the tensor $`h_{\alpha \beta }(\pi )`$ as

$$h_{\alpha \beta }(\pi )=f^4\stackrel{~}{g}_{mn}^{}(Y(\pi ))\frac{Y^m}{\pi ^\alpha }\frac{Y^n}{\pi ^\beta },$$
(8)
we have

$$g_{\mu \nu }=\stackrel{~}{g}_{\mu \nu }\frac{1}{f^4}h_{\alpha \beta }(\pi )_\mu \pi ^\alpha _\nu \pi ^\beta $$
(9)
Thus, for small brane excitations in a background metric $`\stackrel{~}{g}_{\mu \nu }`$, the effective action becomes

$$S_{eff}[\pi ]=S_{eff}^{(0)}[\pi ]+S_{eff}^{(2)}[\pi ]+S_{eff}^{(4)}[\pi ]+\mathrm{}$$
(10)
where:

$`S_{eff}^{(0)}[\pi ]`$ $`=`$ $`f^4{\displaystyle _{M_4}}d^4x\sqrt{\stackrel{~}{g}}.`$ (11)
The $`𝒪(p^2)`$ contribution is the non-linear sigma model corresponding to a symmetry-breaking pattern $`GH`$ plus the background scalar curvature term:

$`S_{eff}^{(2)}[\pi ]`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}{\displaystyle _{M_4}}d^4x\sqrt{\stackrel{~}{g}}h_{\alpha \beta }_\mu \pi ^\alpha ^\mu \pi ^\beta +\lambda f^2{\displaystyle _{M_4}}d^4x\sqrt{\stackrel{~}{g}}\stackrel{~}{R}.`$ (12)
We are assuming that the branons derivative terms are of the same order as those with metric derivatives. The fourth-order term is obtained by expanding both the metric determinant and the induced scalar curvature in branon fields. Up to a surface term (see ), we obtain:

$`S_{eff}^{(4)}[\pi ]`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{8f^4}}{\displaystyle _{M_4}}d^4x\sqrt{\stackrel{~}{g}}h_{\alpha \beta }h_{\gamma \delta }(_\mu \pi ^\alpha ^\mu \pi ^\beta _\nu \pi ^\gamma ^\nu \pi ^\delta 2_\mu \pi ^\alpha ^\nu \pi ^\beta _\nu \pi ^\gamma ^\mu \pi ^\delta )`$ (13)
$`+`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\lambda }{2f^2}}{\displaystyle _{M_4}}d^4x\sqrt{\stackrel{~}{g}}h_{\alpha \beta }^\mu \pi ^\alpha ^\nu \pi ^\beta (2\stackrel{~}{R}_{\mu \nu }\stackrel{~}{R}\stackrel{~}{g}_{\mu \nu }),`$
Let us emphasize again that the above effective action is an expansion in branon fields (or metric) derivatives over $`f^2`$ and not an expansion in powers of $`\pi `$ fields, i.e, it is a low-energy effective action. Notice also that we have assumed that the $`G(M_D)`$ symmetry is exact, which implies that the branon fields are massless. However, in a real situation, such symmetry will be only approximately realized. In this case, we will expect the branons to acquire a mass that will measure the breaking of the $`G(M_D)`$ symmetry. In  we have studied these effects and how the symmetry breaking affects the brane ground state.

## 3 Kaluza–Klein gauge bosons and the Higgs mechanism

As commented in the introduction, the isometries in the $`B`$ space are considered as gauge transformation in the Kaluza–Klein theories . In this section we study under which circumstances the GB associated to the isometry breaking can give rise to the longitudinal components of the Kaluza–Klein gauge bosons, as in the standard Higgs mechanism.

We start with the Hilbert–Einstein action for the gravitational field in $`D`$ dimensions plus the brane action: $`S=S_G+S_B`$, i.e.

$$S=\frac{1}{16\pi G_D}_{M_D}d^Dz\sqrt{G}R_Df^4_{M_4}d^4x\sqrt{g}G_{MN}g^{\mu \nu }_\mu Y^M_\nu Y^N,$$
(14)
where $`z=(x,y)`$ are the coordinates defined on $`M_D`$, $`x`$ and $`y`$ being the coordinates defined on $`M_4`$ and $`B`$ respectively, and $`R_D`$ is the $`D`$-dimensional scalar curvature.

In a general non-Abelian case, we consider the usual ansatz for the metric tensor used in the Kaluza–Klein theories:

$`G_{MN}`$ $`=`$ $`\left(\begin{array}{cccc}\stackrel{~}{g}_{\mu \nu }(x)g_{mn}^{}(y)B_\mu ^m(x,y)B_\nu ^n(x,y)& B_\mu ^n(x,y)& & \\ B_\nu ^m(x,y)& g_{mn}^{}(y)& & \end{array}\right),`$
where $`B_\mu ^n(x,y)=\xi _a^n(y)A_\mu ^a(x)`$ with $`\xi _a^n(y)`$ the Killing vectors corresponding to the isometry group $`G(B)`$ introduced above. Now the gauge transformations are $`y^my^m=y^m+\xi _a^m(y)ϵ^a(x)`$. As is well known in this case, the gravitational action $`S_G`$ can be written as

$$S_G=\frac{1}{16\pi G_N}d^4x\sqrt{\stackrel{~}{g}}\stackrel{~}{R}\frac{\xi _a^n\xi _b^mg_{mn}^{}}{16\pi G_N}\frac{1}{4}_{M_4}d^4x\sqrt{\stackrel{~}{g}}F_{\mu \nu }^aF^{\mu \nu b},$$
(16)
where $`F_{\mu \nu }^a=_\mu A_\nu ^a_\nu A_\mu ^aC_{abc}A_\mu ^bA_\nu ^c`$ and

$$16\pi G_N=\frac{16\pi G_D}{_Bd^{D4}y\sqrt{g^{}}}.$$
(17)
In order to obtain the standard Yang–Mills action, the normalization of the Killing vectors is given by

$$\xi _a^m(y)\xi _b^n(y)g_{mn}^{}(y)=k^2\delta _{ab},$$
(18)
where $`g_{mn}^{}(y)`$ is the $`B`$ space-time metric, again $`k^2=16\pi G_N`$ and the brackets are defined as the $`B`$ manifold average

$$f(y)=\frac{_Bd^{D4}y\sqrt{g^{}}f(y)}{_Bd^{D4}y\sqrt{g^{}}}.$$
(19)
The induced metric in this case with non-vanishing gauge fields is given by:

$$g_{\mu \nu }=\stackrel{~}{g}_{\mu \nu }\mathrm{\Delta }_\mu Y^m\mathrm{\Delta }_\nu Y^ng_{mn}^{}$$
(20)
where the covariant derivative is defined as

$$\mathrm{\Delta }_\mu Y^m=_\mu Y^m\xi _a^mA_\mu ^a,$$
(21)
which can be written as

$$\mathrm{\Delta }_\mu Y^m=\frac{Y^m}{\pi ^\alpha }_\mu \pi ^\alpha \xi _a^mA_\mu ^a=\frac{1}{kf^2}\xi _\alpha ^m(Y_0)(_\mu \pi ^\alpha kf^2A_\mu ^\alpha )\xi _i^m(Y_0)A_\mu ^i+𝒪(\pi ^2).$$
(22)
Since the $`i`$ indices correspond to the generators of the isotropy group $`H(Y_0)`$, the Killing fields vanish at $`Y_0`$, i.e. $`\xi _i^m(Y_0)=0`$ and the last term vanishes.

Therefore the brane action $`S_B`$ is

$$S_B=f^4_{M_4}d^4x\sqrt{\stackrel{~}{g}}+\frac{1}{2}_{M_4}d^4x\sqrt{\stackrel{~}{g}}\stackrel{~}{g}^{\mu \nu }h_{\alpha \beta }D_\mu \pi ^\alpha D_\nu \pi ^\beta +𝒪(\pi ^4).$$
(23)
where $`D_\mu \pi ^\alpha =_\mu \pi ^\alpha kf^2A_\mu ^\alpha `$. Thus the gauge boson mass matrix is

$$M_{\alpha \beta }^2=k^2f^4h_{\alpha \beta }(0).$$
(24)
Remember that $`Y^m(x)=Y_0^m`$ corresponds to $`\pi ^a=0`$. As commented on before, not all the the gauge bosons will acquire a mass by this mechanism. Only those associated to the broken $`X_\alpha `$ generators will, their number being determined by the dimension of the $`K=G/H`$ space. In any case, two important comments are in order. First, the gauge boson masses are quite small whenever $`fM_P`$. On the other hand it should be remembered that in the standard KK picture, having gauge couplings $`g`$ small enough to have a sensible weak coupling limit (say $`g<1`$) requires having extra dimensions of a typical size of the order of the Planck length, since $`g^2`$ is of the order of $`k^2/R^2`$ (see for instance ). Thus, for the interesting case of large extra dimensions and $`fM_D`$, graviphotons can be considered massless and decoupled from the rest of the low-energy particles. In this case we can safely assume that the Higgs mechanism has not taken place and the GB can be considered as the only relevant low-energy new degrees of freedom.

## 4 Couplings to the Standard Model fields

As we have shown in the previous sections, the induced metric on the brane depends on both the four-dimensional bulk metric components $`\stackrel{~}{g}_{\mu \nu }`$ and the Goldstone bosons $`\pi ^\alpha `$. In the following, we will assume that the physical space-time metric is $`\stackrel{~}{g}_{\mu \nu }`$, whereas the contribution of the GB to the brane metric can be detected only through their couplings to the Standard Model fields. In order to obtain such couplings, we use the Sundrum effective action for the SM fields , which is basically the SM action defined on a curved space-time $`M_4`$ whose metric is the induced metric $`g_{\mu \nu }`$. Let us give the results up to $`𝒪(p^2)`$ for the different kinds of fields which have been obtained in :

### Scalars

For a scalar field we have:

$`S_\mathrm{\Phi }`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}{\displaystyle _{M_4}}d^4x\sqrt{g}g^{\mu \nu }_\mu \mathrm{\Phi }_\nu \mathrm{\Phi }={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}{\displaystyle _{M_4}}d^4x\sqrt{\stackrel{~}{g}}\stackrel{~}{g}^{\mu \nu }_\mu \mathrm{\Phi }_\nu \mathrm{\Phi }`$ (25)
$`+`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2f^4}}{\displaystyle _{M_4}}d^4x\sqrt{\stackrel{~}{g}}h_{\alpha \beta }(\pi )_\mu \mathrm{\Phi }_\nu \mathrm{\Phi }^\mu \pi ^\alpha ^\nu \pi ^\beta `$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4f^4}}{\displaystyle _{M_4}}d^4x\sqrt{\stackrel{~}{g}}\stackrel{~}{g}^{\mu \nu }_\mu \mathrm{\Phi }_\nu \mathrm{\Phi }\stackrel{~}{g}^{\rho \sigma }h_{\alpha \beta }(\pi )_\rho \pi ^\alpha _\sigma \pi ^\beta +𝒪(p^4).`$
### Fermions

The introduction of fermions on the brane is more complicated and we refer the reader to the above reference for details. The results are:

$`S`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle d^4x\sqrt{\stackrel{~}{g}}i\overline{\psi }\stackrel{~}{\overline{)}D}\psi }{\displaystyle \frac{i}{2f^4}}{\displaystyle d^4x\sqrt{\stackrel{~}{g}}h_{\alpha \beta }(\pi )\stackrel{~}{g}^{\mu \nu }_\mu \pi ^\alpha _\nu \pi ^\beta \overline{\psi }\stackrel{~}{\overline{)}D}\psi }`$ (26)
$`+`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{i}{2f^4}}{\displaystyle d^4x\sqrt{\stackrel{~}{g}}\overline{\psi }h_{\alpha \beta }(\pi )\stackrel{~}{g}^{\mu \nu }_\mu \pi ^\alpha \overline{)}\pi ^\beta \stackrel{~}{D}_\nu \psi }`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{i}{4f^4}}{\displaystyle d^4x\sqrt{\stackrel{~}{g}}\overline{\psi }h_{\alpha \beta }(\pi )\stackrel{~}{g}^{\mu \nu }(\overline{)}(_\mu \pi ^\alpha _\nu \pi ^\beta )_\mu (\overline{)}\pi ^\alpha _\nu \pi ^\beta ))\psi }.`$
where $`\stackrel{~}{D}_\mu `$ is the fermionic covariant derivative corresponding to the background metric $`\stackrel{~}{g}_{\mu \nu }`$. In particular, this way of introducing the couplings of Goldstone bosons to fermions allows us to consider chiral fermions in a straightforward way.

### Gauge bosons

For the Yang–Mills action on the brane we can follow similar steps, and we get:

$`S_{YM}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\text{tr}}{2g^2}}{\displaystyle d^4x\sqrt{\stackrel{~}{g}}\stackrel{~}{g}^{\mu \rho }\stackrel{~}{g}^{\nu \sigma }G_{\mu \nu }G_{\rho \sigma }}`$ (27)
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\text{tr}}{4g^2f^4}}{\displaystyle d^4x\sqrt{\stackrel{~}{g}}\stackrel{~}{g}^{\mu \nu }h_{\alpha \beta }(\pi )(_\mu \pi ^\alpha _\nu \pi ^\beta )\stackrel{~}{g}^{\mu \rho }\stackrel{~}{g}^{\nu \sigma }G_{\mu \nu }G_{\rho \sigma }}`$
$`+`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\text{tr}}{g^2f^4}}{\displaystyle d^4x\sqrt{\stackrel{~}{g}}h_{\alpha \beta }(\pi )(_\lambda \pi ^\alpha _\kappa \pi ^\beta )\stackrel{~}{g}^{\mu \lambda }\stackrel{~}{g}^{\rho \kappa }\stackrel{~}{g}^{\nu \sigma }G_{\mu \nu }G_{\rho \sigma }}`$
From the above discussion we see that the GB always interact by pairs with the SM matter. In addition, due to their geometric origin, those interactions are very similar to the gravitational interactions since the $`\pi `$ fields couple to all the matter fields with the same strength, which is suppressed by a factor $`f^4`$. This is quite interesting since it could explain why they have not been observed so far, provided they exist at all. However, moderate values of the brane tension around the TeV scale could make their production possible in the next generation of colliders.

## 5 Brane-skyrmions

The branon fields introduced in the previous sections describe small oscillations of the brane around its ground state. Thus there is some similitude with the well known chiral lagrangian approach in which a non-linear sigma model (NLSM) is used to describe the low-energy pion dynamics. Apart from pions, the NLSM can also be used to describe other non-trivial states in the hadron spectrum such as baryons. For that purpose, the non-trivial topological structure of the coset space $`K`$ plays a fundamental role. In fact, baryons can be identified with certain topologically non-trivial maps between the (compactified) space $`S^3`$ and the coset manifold $`K`$ known as Skyrmions.

Let us then consider static branon field configurations with finite energy, that accordingly vanish at the spatial infinity. Thus, we can compactify the spatial dimensions to $`S^3`$ and the static configurations will be mappings: $`\pi ^\alpha :S^3K`$. Therefore, these mappings can be classified according to the third homotopy group of $`K`$, i.e. $`\pi _3(K)`$. As a consequence, mappings belonging to different non-trivial homotopy classes cannot be deformed in a continuous fashion from one to the other. This implies that such configurations cannot evolve in time classically into the trivial vacuum $`\pi =0`$ and therefore they are stable states. For the sake of simplicity we will consider the case in which we have $`N=3`$ extra dimensions with $`B=S^3`$. In this case, since $`B`$ is an homogeneous space, we have $`KB=S^3SU(2)`$, i.e the coset manifold is also a 3-sphere. Thus, we will have $`\pi _3(S^3)=𝐙`$ and the mappings can be classified by an integer number, usually referred to as the winding number $`n_W`$. We will also assume in the following, that the background metric is flat, i.e, $`\stackrel{~}{g}_{\mu \nu }=\eta _{\mu \nu }`$.

For static configurations the brane-skyrmion mass can be obtained directly from the effective lagrangian as:

$`M[\pi ]={\displaystyle d^3x_{eff}}.`$ (28)
In general this expression will be divergent because of the volume contribution coming from the lowest order term $`S_{eff}^{(0)}[\pi ]`$ which reflects the fact that the brane has infinite extension with finite tension. Therefore, in order to obtain a finite skyrmion mass, we will substract the vacuum energy $`M[0]`$, i.e.:

$$M_S[\pi ]=M[\pi ]M[0]=f^4_{M_3}d^3x\sqrt{g}\lambda f^2_{M_3}d^3x\sqrt{g}RM[0].$$
(29)
In other words we are defining the mass of the brane-skyrmion as the mass of the brane with the topological defect minus the mass of the brane in its ground state with no topological defect.

In order to simplify the calculations we will introduce spherical coordinates on both spaces, $`M_4`$ and $`K`$. In $`M_4`$ we denote the coordinates $`\{t,r,\theta ,\phi \}`$ with $`\varphi [0,2\pi )`$, $`\theta [0,\pi ]`$ and $`r[0,\mathrm{})`$. On the coset manifold $`K`$, the spherical coordinates are denoted $`\{\chi _K,\theta _K,\varphi _K\}`$ with $`\varphi _K[0,2\pi )`$, $`\theta _K[0,\pi ]`$ and $`\chi _K[0,\pi ]`$. These coordinate are related to the physical branon fields (local normal geodesic coordinates on $`K`$) by:

$`\pi _1`$ $`=`$ $`v\mathrm{sin}\chi _K\mathrm{sin}\theta _K\mathrm{cos}\varphi _K,`$
$`\pi _2`$ $`=`$ $`v\mathrm{sin}\chi _K\mathrm{sin}\theta _K\mathrm{sin}\varphi _K,`$ (30)
$`\pi _3`$ $`=`$ $`v\mathrm{sin}\chi _K\mathrm{cos}\theta _K.`$
The coset metric $`h_{\alpha \beta }`$ is the usual $`S^3`$ metric in spherical coordinates. In these coordinates, the brane-skyrmion with winding number $`n_W`$ is given by the non-trivial mapping $`\pi ^\alpha :S^3S^3`$ defined from:

$`\varphi _K`$ $`=`$ $`\varphi ,`$
$`\theta _K`$ $`=`$ $`\theta ,`$
$`\chi _K`$ $`=`$ $`F(r),`$ (31)
with boundary conditions $`F(0)=n_W\pi `$ and $`F(\mathrm{})=0`$. This map is usually referred to as the hedgehog ansatz (see Fig. 2).

In order to calculate the brane-skyrmion mass from (29), we need explicit expressions for the induced metric determinant and the scalar curvature in terms of the profile function $`F(r)`$, so that we can write $`M_S`$ as a functional of $`F(r)`$. The actual mass of the brane-skyrmion with winding number $`n_W`$ will be obtained by minimizing the functional $`M_S[F]`$ (29) in the space of functions $`F(r)`$ with the appropriate boundary conditions. This problem is in general rather complicated, but we can obtain an upper bound to the mass by using a family of functions parametrized by a single parameter, and minimizing with respect to that parameter. In particular, it is very useful to work with the Atiyah-Manton ansatz :

$`F(r)=n_W\pi \left(1{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{1+L^2/r^2}}}\right).`$ (32)
By minimizing the brane-skyrmion mass with respect to $`L`$ we will get: $`M_Smin_LM_S(L)M_S(L_m)`$ for different values of the parameter $`\lambda `$. Thus:

* For $`\lambda =0`$ and using the ansatz above for $`n_W=1`$ we find that $`M_S(L)`$ is minimized for $`L_m=0`$. The corresponding mass is given by

$$M_S=2\pi ^2f^4R_B^3,$$
(33)
i.e. the brane-skyrmion describes a pointlike particle with a finite mass given by the volume of the extra dimensions times the brane tension $`f^4`$. It can be shown that this result is general, i.e. it is valid for any parametrization of the $`F(r)`$ function and not only for the Atiyah-Manton one.
* For $`\lambda >0`$, we find that $`M_S(L)`$ is minimized for some $`L_m>0`$ (non-zero size brane-skyrmion). In this case, assuming that the contribution from the curvature term never becomes negative, it is possible to obtain the following lower bound on the mass $`M_S>M_S(\lambda =0)=2\pi ^2f^4R_B^3`$. An upper bound can be obtained evaluating $`M_S`$ in the limit $`L=0`$, simply assuming that this limit is well defined so that we can commute the limit with the integration. Thus

$$M_S<M_S(L=0)=2\pi ^2f^4R_B^3\left(1+6\frac{\lambda }{R_B^2f^2}\right).$$
(34)
These results are general for any monotonic parametrization and, in particular, we have checked numerically that they hold for the Atiyah-Manton case.
* Finally, for $`\lambda <0`$, we find again that the minimum $`M_S`$ corresponds to zero size brane-Skyrmion and the corresponding mass is

$$M_S=2\pi ^2f^4R_B^3\left(1+6\frac{\lambda }{R_B^2f^2}\right).$$
(35)
When $`\lambda <R_B^2f^2/6`$ the brane-skyrmion mass becomes negative. In this case, using non-monotonic parametrizations, we have obtained that the mass is actually not bounded from below, since the curvature term can be made arbitrarily large. As a consequence only in this last case, the brane-skyrmion becomes unstable. These results are summarized in Table.1

In Fig.3 we show the brane-skyrmion mass as a function of $`\lambda `$ and $`L`$. We see that the minimum is displaced from $`L=0`$ when $`\lambda >0`$.

For more precise numerical results see . An interesting conclusion that can be obtained from those results is that the interaction between two classical brane-skyrmions with topological number $`n_W=1`$ is repulsive when their sizes are non zero, whereas they do not interact if their sizes are exactly zero.

We can also take into account the effects of the possible branon mass on the Skyrmion properties. As shown in , the presence of the branon masses does not affect the brane-skyrmion stability, the only difference with the massless case being that the brane-skyrmion mass increases.

Finally this analysis can be extended to higher-dimensional Skyrmions. For the simple case where $`M_D=M_{N+1}\times S^N`$ similar results hold, except for $`N=1`$ where brane-Skyrmions are unstable, and $`N=2`$ where the contribution of the curvature term vanishes.

## 6 Interaction Lagrangian and fermionic quantization

In this section we will study the interaction between the brane-skyrmions and the branons. For simplicity we will consider only the case $`M_7=M_4\times S^3`$ with $`\stackrel{~}{g}_{\mu \nu }=\eta _{\mu \nu }`$ so that $`KSU(2)`$. Then we can follow the well known steps for quantization of the standard chiral dynamics Skyrmion . It is possible to split the isometry group $`G`$ as $`G=SU(2)_L\times SU(2)_R`$ and $`H`$ corresponds to the isospin group $`SU(2)_{L+R}`$. The parametrization of the coset is usually done in terms of a $`SU(2)`$ matrix $`U(x)`$ and the Skyrmion is usually written as

$`U(x)`$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{exp}(iF(r)\widehat{x}^a\tau ^a)=\mathrm{cos}F(r)+i\tau ^a\widehat{x}^a\mathrm{sin}F(r)`$ (36)
$`=`$ $`\pm \sqrt{1{\displaystyle \frac{\pi ^2}{v^2}}}+i\tau ^a\widehat{x}^a\mathrm{sin}F(r),`$
where $`\tau ^a`$ are the $`SU(2)`$ generators. From this expression we can identify the Goldstone bosons fields $`\pi ^\alpha =v\mathrm{sin}F(r)\widehat{x}^\alpha `$. The quantization of the isorotations of the Skyrmion solution (which correspond to rotations in the compactified space $`B=S^3`$ in our case) requires the well-known relation $`J=I`$ where $`J`$ and $`I`$ are the spin and the isospin indices. In principle the allowed values of $`J`$ are $`J=0,1/2,1,3/2,\mathrm{}`$. As explained by Witten , fermionic quantization is possible because of the Wess-Zumino-Witten (WZW) term $`k\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ with $`k`$ integer, that can be added to the Goldstone boson effective action. For $`k`$ even the Skyrmion is a boson, but for $`k`$ odd it is a fermion. For the $`SU(2)`$ case, the functional $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ has no dynamics and becomes a topological invariant related with the homotopy group $`\pi _4(SU(2))=𝐙_\mathrm{𝟐}`$. Note that for a suitable compactification of the space-time this is the relevant group for the Goldstone boson map. A map belonging to the non-trivial class could for example describe the creation of a Skyrmion-antiskyrmion pair followed by a $`2\pi `$ rotation of the Skyrmion and finally a Skyrmion-antiskyrmion annihilation. In the fermionic case this field configuration must be weighted with a $`1`$ in the Feynman path integral. For an adiabatic $`2\pi `$ rotation of the Skyrmion around some axis, the WZW term contributes $`k\pi `$ to the action and $`()^k`$ to the amplitude which can be understood as an $`exp(i2\pi J)`$ factor. Therefore both possibilities, bosonic and fermionic quantization of the Skyrmion, are open. In principle this result can also be extended to the more general case of $`S^N`$ brane-skyrmions considered in the last section where $`M_D=M_{N+1}\times S^N`$ with $`D=2N+1`$ since $`\pi _{N+1}(S^N)=𝐙_\mathrm{𝟐}`$ for $`N3`$.

In order to study the low-energy interactions of the brane-skyrmions with the branons we have to obtain the appropriate effective lagrangian. This lagrangian must be $`G(B)`$ symmetric and the brane-skyrmion is described in it by a complex field because of the topological charge. Thus for example this field will be a complex scalar $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ for $`J=0`$ or a Dirac spinor $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$ for $`J=1/2`$. For the scalar case the invariant lagrangian with the lowest number of derivatives can be written as:

$`_s=\alpha \mathrm{\Phi }^{}\mathrm{\Phi }h_{\alpha \beta }(\pi )_\mu \pi ^\alpha ^\mu \pi ^\beta .`$ (37)
The coupling $`\alpha `$ can be obtained from the large distance behaviour of the branon field in the brane-skyrmion configuration, i.e., $`F(r)B/r^2`$. In particular for the Atiyah-Manton ansatz with $`n_W=1`$, we get $`B=L^2\pi /2`$. By using the lagrangian $`_s`$ it is also possible to obtain the branon field produced by the brane-skyrmion field $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ and by comparison with the above results we arrive at

$$\alpha =\frac{8}{3}\pi ^2v^2B^2=\frac{2}{3}v^2\pi ^4L_m^4.$$
(38)
From this lagrangian it is possible, for example, to compute the cross sections for producing a brane-skyrmion-antibrane-skyrmion pair from two branons.

The fermionic case can be studied in a similar way  although a consistent analysis would be more involved, since it requires the quantization of the rotational modes.

## 7 Wrapped states

In this section we introduce another kind of states which can appear as topological excitations of the branes. These states correspond to brane configurations wrapped around the compactified spaces $`B`$ which typically will be assumed to be $`S^N`$ for $`M_D=M_{N+1}\times B`$. A given wrapped states is located at some well defined point of the space $`M_N`$. The possibility of having this wrapped states is related to the homotopy group $`\pi _N(B)=𝐙`$ which is obviously the case for $`B=S^N`$ but also for other spaces. In principle, wrapped states can be present even when there is no world brane, i.e., when we do not have a brane extended along the big space $`M_N`$. However, one of the most interesting cases occurs when the wrapped states are located at one point of the world brane and then can be understood as world-brane excitations. Note that as far as the relevant homotopy group is again $`𝐙`$ we have also antiwrapped states which correspond to negative winding numbers. Thus a world brane can get excited by creating a wrapped-antiwrapped state at some given point. In Fig. 4 we show a single wrapped state at rest (left) and branon-excited. On the left of Fig.2 we show a wrapped state (circle) located at one point of the world brane (straight line) for the case $`N=1`$.

To study in more detail the main properties of these wrapped states we concentrate now on a four-dimensional space-time $`M_4`$ embedded in a $`7`$-dimensional bulk space that we are assuming to be $`M_7=M_4\times B`$ with $`M_4=𝐑\times M_3`$ and $`B=S^3`$. Now, unlike the brane-skyrmion case, the finite energy requirement do not lead to any compactification of the world space $`M_3`$ because the brane is going to be wrapped around $`B`$ which is compact. However, for technical reasons it is still useful to compactify $`M_3`$ to $`S^3`$ by adding the spatial infinite point. The wrapped brane produces the spontaneous breaking of the $`M_7`$ isometry group, which we assume to be $`G(M_7)=G(𝐑\times M_3\times S^3)=G(𝐑\times S^3)\times G(M_3)`$ to the $`G(𝐑\times S^3)\times H^{}`$ group where $`H^{}`$ is the isotropy group of $`M_3`$ which is assumed to be homogeneous. Then the coset space is defined by $`K^{}=G(M_3)/H^{}`$. In the simplest case $`M_3=S^3`$ we have $`K^{}=SO(4)/SO(3)=S^3`$ and then $`K^{}BS^3`$. Therefore the low-energy brane excitations can be parameterized as

$`\mathrm{\Pi }:B`$ $``$ $`K^{}`$
$`y`$ $``$ $`\pi (y),`$ (39)
where $`y`$ are coordinates on $`B`$ and $`\pi `$ are coordinates on $`K^{}`$. On the other hand, as far as the quotient space $`K^{}`$ and $`M_3`$ are both topologically equivalent to $`S^3`$, it is possible to describe the wrapped brane by giving its position on the $`M_3`$ space $`X^i`$ as a function of $`y^m`$, i.e. $`X^i=X^i(y^m)`$. In particular it is possible to choose the coordinates so that

$$X^i(y)=\frac{1}{f^2}\delta _\alpha ^i\pi ^\alpha (y)+\mathrm{}$$
(40)
locally. In the following we will use $`X^i`$ instead of $`\pi ^\alpha `$ to label the wrapped-brane points in terms of the brane parameters $`y`$ . Let us now rearrange the coordinates for convenience in order to have $`Y^M=(t,y^m,X^i(y))`$ where $`t`$ is the temporal coordinate $`t=x^0`$. The bulk metric is then:

$`G_{MN}`$ $`=`$ $`\left(\begin{array}{cccc}\stackrel{~}{g}_{00}& & 0& \\ & \stackrel{~}{g}_{mn}^{}(y)& & \\ 0& & \stackrel{~}{g}_{ij}(x)& \end{array}\right)=\left(\begin{array}{cccc}\stackrel{~}{g}_{rs}^{}(y)& 0& & \\ 0& \stackrel{~}{g}_{ij}(x)& & \end{array}\right),`$ (46)
where $`\stackrel{~}{g}_{rs}^{}`$ is the background metric on the space-time manifold $`𝐑\times B`$, i.e., $`r,s=0,1,2,3`$. The induced metric on this manifold can be evaluated in a way similar to the brane-skyrmion case. Thus in the ground state, the induced metric on the wrapped brane is given by the four-dimensional components of the bulk space metric, i.e. $`g_{rs}^{}=\stackrel{~}{g}_{rs}^{}=G_{rs}`$. When branons are present, the induced metric is given by

$$g_{rs}^{}=\stackrel{~}{g}_{rs}^{}_rX^i_sX^j\stackrel{~}{g}_{ij}$$
(47)
On the other hand, the action including the scalar curvature term is given by:

$$S_B=f^4_{𝐑\times B}𝑑td^3y\sqrt{g^{}}+\lambda f^2_{𝐑\times B}𝑑td^3y\sqrt{g^{}}R^{},$$
(48)
where $`R^{}`$ is the induced curvature on the wrapped brane and the volume term is now finite for fixed time. For small excitations, the effective action becomes

$$S_{eff}[X]=S_{eff}^{(0)}[X]+S_{eff}^{(2)}[X]+\mathrm{}$$
(49)
Where the effective action for the branons up to $`𝒪(p^2)`$ is nothing but the non-linear sigma model corresponding to a symmetry-breaking pattern $`G(M_3)H^{}`$:

$`S_{eff}^{(0)}[X]`$ $`=`$ $`f^4{\displaystyle _{𝐑\times B}}𝑑td^3y\sqrt{\stackrel{~}{g}^{}},`$ (50)
$`S_{eff}^{(2)}[X]`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{f^4}{2}}{\displaystyle _{𝐑\times B}}𝑑td^3y\sqrt{\stackrel{~}{g}^{}}\stackrel{~}{g}_{ij}\stackrel{~}{g}^{rs}_rX^i_sX^j+\lambda f^2{\displaystyle _{𝐑\times B}}𝑑td^3y\sqrt{\stackrel{~}{g}^{}}\stackrel{~}{R}^{}.`$ (51)
Where $`\stackrel{~}{R}^{}`$ is the background curvature on the wrapped brane, without excitations. Notice that $`i,j,\mathrm{}`$ are $`M_3`$ indices, whereas $`r,s,\mathrm{}`$ are indices on the $`𝐑\times K^{}`$ manifold. This effective action is again an expansion in powers of $`p_rX_rg^{}/f`$, i.e. it is a low-energy expansion.

For static configurations the mass of the wrapped state, to the lowest order, is given from (48) again by

$$M_W=f^4_Bd^3y\sqrt{g^{}}.$$
(52)
The minimum is found for $`X^i=0`$:

$`M_W=2\pi ^2f^4R_B^3,`$ (53)
which is proportional to the $`B=S^3`$ volume as expected. In this case we have the brane wrapped around $`B`$ with the minimal possible brane volume. For small enough $`\lambda `$, adding the curvature term does not change the picture very much:

$$M_W=f^4_Bd^3y\sqrt{g^{}}\lambda f^2_Bd^3y\sqrt{g^{}}R^{}.$$
(54)
Because of the scalar curvature on a 3-sphere is $`\stackrel{~}{R}^{}=6/R_B^2`$, we find

$`M_W=2\pi ^2f^4R_B^3\left(1+6{\displaystyle \frac{\lambda }{R_B^2f^2}}\right).`$ (55)
Then the brane is still wrapped minimizing its volume but we have a new contribution to the mass coming from the brane curvature which coincides with the $`B`$ curvature. This result obviously applies to branes wrapped once around $`B`$. The generalization to cases where the brane is wrapped $`n_W𝐙`$ times is straightforward resulting just in a factor of $`|n_W|`$ in the above equation.

It is very interesting to realize that the obtained value for the wrapped-state mass is exactly the same previously given for the brane-skyrmion mass in Table.1, as the upper bound for positive $`\lambda `$ and the exact value for negative $`\lambda `$, provided $`\lambda >R_B^2f^2/6`$. The fact that our brane action is defined in an entirely geometrical way, makes possible to give a beautiful explanation of this fact. On the right of Fig.2 we have represented a brane-skyrmion corresponding to a positive value of $`\lambda `$. According to our previous discussion the brane-skyrmion has a non-zero size. This makes possible to pass through the brane from one side to the other, showing the topological defect as some kind of hole in the brane.

Despite the similarity between both configurations, they are not the same because their topology is different. The brane-skyrmion is extended on both the compactified $`M_3`$ space and the extra-dimensional space $`B`$, but the wrapped states do only around the extra dimension space $`B`$. Another way to understand why they are different is to realize that the brane-skyrmion is made of a single piece unlike the wrapped configuration which has two different pieces (the wrapped brane and the world brane). Thus they cannot be connected by a classical process, although quantum tunneling could produce in principle transitions between one to the other.

## 8 Summary and conclusions

In this work we have studied the effective action describing the low-energy dynamics of the GB, which appear when the higher-dimensional space-time manifold isometry group is spontaneously broken by the presence of a three-brane Universe. From the $`3+1`$-dimensional point of view, those GB can be considered as some kind of new scalar fields whose dynamics is given by the non-linear sigma model lagrangian corresponding to the coset manifold $`K=G/H`$. Eventually, the GB can also get some mass terms due to small deviations from the simple ideal exact isometry pattern.

This spontaneous symmetry breaking gives rise, through the Higgs mechanism, to a mass matrix for the KK graviphotons associated to the isometries of the compactified space $`B`$. However, for the interesting case of large extra dimensions and $`fM_D`$, the graviphotons decouple from the low-energy theory and their masses become very small. We can thus consider the GB as the only relevant degrees of freedom on the brane in the low-energy regime.

In order to make further studies of the possible phenomenological implications of those GB brane excitations, we have considered their corresponding couplings with the SM particles including scalars, fermions (chiral and non-chiral) and gauge bosons.

Under suitable assumptions about the third homotopy group of the space $`K`$, this effective action gives rise to a new kind of states corresponding to topological defects of the brane (brane-skyrmions) which are stable whenever the curvature parameter $`\lambda `$ is not too negative. The mass and the size of the brane-skyrmions can be computed in terms of the brane tension scale ($`f`$), $`\lambda `$ and the size of the space $`B`$ ($`R_B`$). The brane-skyrmions can be understood as some kind of holes in the brane that make possible to pass through them along the $`B`$ space. This is because in the core of the topological defect the symmetry is restablished. In the case considered here the broken symmetry is basically the translational symmetry along the extra-dimensions. Thus the core of the brane-skyrmion plays the role of a window through the brane, which is a nice geometrical interpretation of this object. For $`\lambda =0`$ or negative the brane-skyrmion collapses to zero size and that window is closed.

Brane-skyrmions can in principle be quantized as bosons or fermions by adding a Wess-Zumino-Witten-like term to the branon effective action. This is a very interesting possibility since it provides a completely new way of introducing fermions on the brane. The low-energy effective lagrangian describing the interactions between branons and brane-skyrmions can also be obtained in a systematic way. This open the door for the study of the possible phenomenology of these states at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) currently under construction at CERN.

We have studied another different set of states corresponding to a brane wrapped on the extra-dimension space $`B`$ (wrapped states) and we have derived their connection with the brane-skyrmion states.

Finally, these results can be extended also to higher dimensions where similar results hold. This fact could have some relevance in the context of pure M-theory where solitonic 5-branes are present which could wrap around 5-dimensional spheres.

We understand that the brane-skyrmions and wrapped states studied in this paper are quite interesting objects (both from the theoretical and perhaps from a more phenomenological point of view) and thus we think that they deserve future research.

Acknowledgements: This work has been partially supported by the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (Spain) (CICYT AEN 97-1693 and PB98-0782).