Strings and Aharonov-Bohm Effect in Abelian Higgs Model

Abstract

We investigate numerically the properties of the Abrikosov-Nielsen-Olesen strings in 4D abelian Higgs model. The fractal dimension D_f of the vortex strings was found to be large in the Coulomb phase and it is close to 2 in the Higgs phase. We also show that the Wilson loop for non-integer charges is correlated with the linking number of the vortex string world sheets and the test particle world trajectory. We find that this topological (Aharonov-Bohm) interaction gives the main contribution to the Wilson loop quantum average for non-integer test charges in the vicinity of the Coulomb-Higgs phase transition.

8 pages, LaTeX, 5 EPS-figures, uses epsf.sty