Quantum Mechanically Induced Wess-Zumino Term in the Principal Chiral Model

Abstract

It is argued that, in the two dimensional principal chiral model, the Wess-Zumino term can be induced quantum mechanically, allowing the model with the critical value of the coupling constant $\lambda^2 = 8\pi/|k|$ to turn into the Wess-Zumino-Novikov-Witten model at the quantum level. The Wess-Zumino term emerges from the inequivalent quantizations possible on a sphere hidden in the configuration space of the original model. It is shown that the Dirac monopole potential, which is induced on the sphere in the inequivalent quantizations, turns out to be the Wess-Zumino term in the entire configuration space.