Quantum stabilization of the chiral soliton

The SU(2) × SU(2) nonlinear σ-model soliton, stabilized by quantum fluctuations alone, is analyzed by variational calculations. The magnetic moments and gA of the nucleon are calculated and the results are as good as, or better than, with the conventional Skyrmion. It is also pointed out, however, that the model has the wrong Nc dependence for the mass and the size of the soliton, which collapses as the number of colors Nc→∞.