Gravitating global monopoles in extra dimensions and the braneworld concept

Multidimensional configurations with a Minkowski external spacetime and a spherically symmetric global monopole in extra dimensions are discussed in the context of the braneworld concept. The monopole is formed with a hedgehoglike set of scalar fields φⁱ with a symmetry-breaking potential V depending on the magnitude φ² = φⁱφⁱ. All possible kinds of globally regular configurations are singled out without specifying the shape of V(φ). These variants are governed by the maximum value φ_m of the scalar field, characterizing the energy scale of symmetry breaking. If φ_m < φ_cr (where φ_cr is a critical value of φ related to the multidimensional Planck scale), the monopole reaches infinite radii, whereas in the “strong field regime,” when φ_m ≥ φ_cr, the monopole may end with a finite-radius cylinder or have two regular centers. The warp factors of monopoles with both infinite and finite radii may either exponentially grow or tend to finite constant values far from the center. All such configurations are shown to be able to trap test scalar matter, in striking contrast to RS2 type five-dimensional models. The monopole structures obtained analytically are also found numerically for the Mexican hat potential with an additional parameter acting as a cosmological constant.