The compact Q=2 Abelian Higgs model in the London limit: vortex-monopole chains and the photon propagator

TL;DR

This paper investigates the topological and confining properties of the compact Abelian Higgs model with doubly-charged Higgs fields in three dimensions, revealing monopole chain structures crucial for confinement and analyzing the photon propagator.

Contribution

It demonstrates the formation of monopole chains in the London limit and links these structures to confinement phenomena, providing a new perspective on topological mechanisms in gauge theories.

Findings

Monopoles form chain-like structures in the confining phase.

Chains percolate in the confinement phase and are finite in the Higgs phase.

Photon propagator analysis reveals vacuum screening properties.

Abstract

The confining and topological properties of the compact Abelian Higgs model with doubly-charged Higgs field in three space-time dimensions are studied. We consider the London limit of the model. We show that the monopoles are forming chain-like structures (kept together by ANO vortices) the presence of which is essential for getting simultaneously permanent confinement of singly-charged particles and breaking of the string spanned between doubly-charged particles. In the confinement phase the chains are forming percolating clusters while in the deconfinement (Higgs) phase the chains are of finite size. The described picture is in close analogy with the synthesis of the Abelian monopole and the center vortex pictures in confining non--Abelian gauge models. The screening properties of the vacuum are studied by means of the photon propagator in the Landau gauge.