We study a recently proposed modification of the Skyrme model that possesses an exact self-dual sector leading to an infinity of exact Skyrmion solutions with arbitrary topological (baryon) charge. The self-dual sector is made possible by the introduction, in addition to the usual three SU(2) Skyrme fields, of six scalar fields assembled in a symmetric and invertible three dimensional matrix h. The action presents quadratic and quartic terms in derivatives of the Skyrme fields, but instead of the group indices being contracted by the SU(2) Killing form, they are contracted with the h-matrix in the quadratic term, and by its inverse on the quartic term. Due to these extra fields the static version of the model, as well as its self-duality equations, are conformally invariant on the three dimensional space R 3. We show that the static and self-dual sectors of such a theory are equivalent, and so the only non-self-dual solution must be time dependent. We also show that for any configuration of the Skyrme SU(2) fields, the h-fields adjust themselves to satisfy the self-duality equations, and so the theory has plenty of non-trivial topological solutions. We present explicit exact solutions using a holomorphic rational ansatz, as well as a toroidal ansatz based on the conformal symmetry. We point to possible extensions of the model that break the conformal symmetry as well as the self-dual sector, and that can perhaps lead to interesting physical applications.

We show that the CP N model with odd number of scalar fields and V-shaped potential possesses finite energy compact solutions in the form of Q-balls and Qshells. The solutions were obtained in 3+1 dimensions. Q-balls appears for N = 1 and N = 3 whereas Q-shells are present for higher odd values of N . We show that energy of these solutions behaves as E ∼ |Q| 5/6 , where Q is the Noether charge.

The low energy regime of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) presents enormous challenges due to its large coupling. Effective field theories, like the Skyrme model, are useful approaches to study properties of strong interaction at hadronic scales. We propose a Skyrme-type model with a self-dual sector and that treats the density of the baryonic charge as a self-interacting fluid. The dynamics reduces to Coleman’s false vacuum problem for a scalar field that is a fractional power of that density. The main result is that such a Skyrme-type model is the first one to reproduce, with good accuracy, the experimental values of radii and binding energies for a very wide range of the mass number. The robust and simple properties of the model lead to many possible generalizations with implications not only in nuclear physics but also in other areas of Physics.