The Topological Charges of the $a_n^{(1)}$ Affine Toda Solitons

Abstract

The topological charges of the \an affine Toda solitons are considered. A general formula is presented for the number of charges associated with each soliton, as well as an expression for the charges themselves. For each soliton the charges are found to lie in the corresponding fundamental representation, though in general these representations are not filled. Each soliton's topological charges are invariant under cyclic permutations of the simple roots plus the extended root or equivalently, under the action of the Coxeter element (with a particular ordering). Multisolitons are considered and are found to have topological charges filling the remainder of the fundamental representations as well as the entire weight lattice. The article concludes with a discussion of some of the other affine Toda theories.