Sharp existence and uniqueness theorems for non-Abelian multiple vortex solutions

Vortices in non-Abelian gauge field theory play essential roles in the mechanism of color confinement and are governed by systems of nonlinear elliptic equations of complicated structure. In this paper, we present a series of sharp existence and uniqueness theorems for multiple vortex solutions of the non-Abelian BPS equations over R-2 and on a doubly periodic domain. Our methods are based on calculus of variations which may be used to analyze more extended problems. The necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a unique solution in the doubly periodic situation are expressed in terms of physical parameters involved explicitly. (c) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.