Topology in the bulk: gauge field solitons in extra dimensions Original Research Article

Certain static soliton configurations of gauge fields in 4+1 dimensions correspond to the instanton in 4 Euclidean dimensions “turned on its side”, becoming a monopole in 4+1. The periodic instanton solution can be used with the method of images to construct solutions satisfying D-brane boundary conditions. The θ-term on the brane becomes a topological current source, yielding an emission amplitude for monopoles into the bulk. Instantons have a novel reinterpretation in terms of monopole exchange between branes.