On the Calculation of the Vacuum Energy Density in Sigma Models

Abstract

The vacuum energy density is calculated for the $O(N)$ nonlinear sigma models in two dimensions. To obtain $\varepsilon_{vac}$ we assume that each point of the space in which non-perturbative f\/ields are determined can be replaced by a sphere $S^2$ having a small radius $r$ which approaches zero at the very end of the calculation. This assumption allows to get the classical f\/ields generating v.e.v. of the trace of the energy-momentum tensor.