Semiclassical quantization of SU(3) skyrmions

Semiclassical quantization of the SU(3)-skyrmion zero modes is performed by means of the collective coordinate method. The quantization condition known for SU(2) solitons quantized with SU(3) collective coordinates is generalized for SU(3) skyrmions with strangeness content different from zero. The quantization of the dipole-type configuration with large strangeness content found recently is considered as an example and the spectrum and the mass splittings of the quantized states are estimated. The energy and baryon number density of SU(3) skyrmions are presented in a form emphasizing their symmetry in different SU(2) subgroups of SU(3), and a lower bound for the static energy of SU(3) skyrmions is derived. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 112, 1941–1958 (December 1997) Published in English in the original Russian journal. Reproduced here with stylistic changes by the Translation Editor.