Dilute instanton gas of an O(3) Skyrme model

The pure-Skyrme limit of a scale-breaking Skyrmed O(3) sigma model in 1+1 dimensions is employed to study the effect of the Skyrme term on the semiclassical analysis of a field theory with instantons. The instantons of this model are self-dual and can be evaluated explicitly. They are also localised to an absolute scale, and their fluctuation action can be reduced to a scalar subsystem. This permits the explicit calculation of the fluctuation determinant and the shift in vacuum energy due to instantons. The model also illustrates the semiclassical quantisation of a Skyrmed field theory.