SEMICLASSICAL QUANTIZATION OF SU(3) SKYRMIONS

Semiclassical quantization of the SU(3)-skyrmion zero modes is perform ed by means of the collective coordinate method. The quantization cond ition known for SU(2) solitons quantized with SU(3) collective coordin ates is generalized for SU(3) skyrmions with strangeness content diffe rent from zero. The quantization of the dipole-type configuration with large strangeness content found recently is considered as an example and the spectrum and the mass splittings of the quantized states are e stimated. The energy and baryon number density of SU(3) skyrmions are presented in a form emphasizing their symmetry in different SU(2) subg roups of SU(3), and a lower bound for the static energy of SU(3) skyrm ions is derived. (C) 1997 American institute of Physics. [S1063-7761(9 7)00212-6].