New integrable coset sigma models

Abstract

Abstract By using the general framework of affine Gaudin models, we construct a new class of integrable sigma models. They are defined on a coset of the direct product of N copies of a Lie group over some diagonal subgroup and they depend on 3N − 2 free parameters. For N = 1 the corresponding model coincides with the well-known symmetric space sigma model. Starting from the Hamiltonian formulation, we derive the Lagrangian for the N = 2 case and show that it admits a remarkably simple form in terms of the classical ℛ-matrix underlying the integrability of these models. We conjecture that a similar form of the Lagrangian holds for arbitrary N. Specifying our general construction to the case of SU(2) and N = 2, and eliminating one of the parameters, we find a new three-parametric integrable model with the manifold T1,1 as its target space. We further comment on the connection of our results with those existing in the literature.