  The topological mechanism for generation of vector boson masses in the
Electroweak Model is discussed. Vector boson masses are automatically generated
by transformation of the free Lagrangian from the noncompact $R_4$ matter
fields space to the compact sphere $ S_3$. This model describes all
experimentally observed fields and does not include the (up to now unobserved)
scalar Higgs field. $W$- and $Z$-boson masses are expressed through the
parameter $R$ by the same formulas as in the standard case. The free parameter
$R$ of the model is now interpreted as the curvature radius of the spherical
matter fields space. The development of this topological idea in different
aspects, such as transformation to radial coordinates or nonlinearly realized
gauge group or nonlinear partial-trace sigma-model, is briefly reviewed.

General Physics