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

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.