Baryon/Lepton Number of Sphalerons

Question

Is it meaningful to associate baryon and/or lepton numbers to the SU(2) electroweak sphaleron?

In processes that violate baryon and/or lepton number, is it meaningful to associate such quantum numbers to the sphaleron itself? If so, what are these numbers, and are they conserved?

Is there a resource that discusses this in detail or even at all?

This post imported from StackExchange Physics at 2016-11-08 14:08 (UTC), posted by SE-user Optimus Prime

Comments

How do you envision permuting two sphalerons?

This post imported from StackExchange Physics at 2016-11-08 14:08 (UTC), posted by SE-user Cosmas Zachos

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@ Cosmas By this question, do you mean finding a suitable commutation relation for them? If so, what could I infer from it?

This post imported from StackExchange Physics at 2016-11-08 14:08 (UTC), posted by SE-user Optimus Prime

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Well, baryon and lepton numbers are violated by it, so it would preserve its own if it had such? A sphaleron is a configuration, not a mother particle.

This post imported from StackExchange Physics at 2016-11-08 14:08 (UTC), posted by SE-user Cosmas Zachos

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I added your very interesting question to the question Cosmas.

This post imported from StackExchange Physics at 2016-11-08 14:08 (UTC), posted by SE-user Optimus Prime