PreprintCC BY 4.0arXiv
A Witten effect for global monopoles
Abstract
Global monopoles can carry electric charge even when the scalar field that forms them is neutral. We show that a CP-odd operator in the Goldstone effective theory, typically discarded as a total derivative, gives them an electric charge Q=−Cn, with C its Wilson coefficient and n the winding number. This is a Witten effect on a global defect, generated by a mixed θ-term between electromagnetism and a composite connection built from the Goldstone fields. The same group theory condition that allows the operator also guarantees the existence of monopoles. We also give a fermionic UV completion and determine the coefficient by matching the Goldstone-Wilczek current.
Related
BibTeX
@misc{lasanta2026witten,
title = {{A Witten effect for global monopoles}},
author = {Pablo Quílez Lasanta},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.14168},
eprint = {2610.14168},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.14168},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - A Witten effect for global monopoles
AU - Pablo Quílez Lasanta
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/09
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.14168
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.14168
AB - Global monopoles can carry electric charge even when the scalar field that forms them is neutral. We show that a CP-odd operator in the Goldstone effective theory, typically discarded as a total derivative, gives them an electric charge Q=−Cn, with C its Wilson coefficient and n the winding number. This is a Witten effect on a global defect, generated by a mixed θ-term between electromagnetism and a composite connection built from the Goldstone fields. The same group theory condition that allows the operator also guarantees the existence of monopoles. We also give a fermionic UV completion and determine the coefficient by matching the Goldstone-Wilczek current.
ER -