Baby Skyrmions stabilized by canonical quantization

Abstract

We analyse the effect of the canonical quantization of the rotational mode of the O(3) $\sigma$-model which includes the Skyrme term. Numerical evidence is presented that the quantum correction to the mass of the rotationally-invariant charge $n=1,2$ configurations may stabilize the solution even in the limit of vanishing potential. The corresponding range of values of the parameters is discussed.