Generalized BPS magnetic monopoles in inhomogeneous Yang-Mills-Higgs models

Abstract

We present a non-Abelian model for magnetic monopoles in inhomogeneous media, based on a generalization of the standard 't~Hooft-Polyakov model. The medium is described by spatially dependent couplings in the gauge and scalar sectors, constrained by $P(|\Phi |,r)M(|\Phi |,r)=1$ so that the Bogomol'nyi-Prasad-Sommerfield (BPS) bound is preserved. For static spherically symmetric configurations, we study the first-order monopole equations for the class of generalized permeabilities $M(H,r)=f(r)/H^{\alpha }$. For the power-law profile $f(r)=r^{\beta }$, we determine the domain in the $(\alpha ,\beta )$ plane where regular BPS solutions exist. On the line $\alpha =1$, the system becomes exactly integrable, with closed-form monopole solutions in an inhomogeneous background. Away from this analytical sector, the solutions are constructed numerically. The model supports a rich spectrum of configurations, including effectively point-like monopoles, compact-core monopoles, hollow monopoles, shell-like structures, and multi-shell monopoles characterized by multiple concentric peaks in the energy density.