SU(2) calorons and magnetic monopoles

Abstract

We investigate the self-dual Yang-Mills gauge configurations on ${R}^{3}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{S}^{1}$ when the gauge symmetry SU(2) is broken to U(1) by the Wilson loop. We construct the explicit field configuration for a single instanton by the Nahm method and show that an instanton is composed of two self-dual monopoles of opposite magnetic charge. We normalize the moduli space metric of an instanton and study various limits of the field configuration and its moduli space metric.