Dynamics of critical vortices on the torus and on the plane

Abstract

We use the Bradlow parameter expansion to construct the metric tensor in the space of solutions of the Bogomolny equations for the Abelian Higgs model on a two-dimensional torus. Using this metric we study the dynamics and scattering of vortices on the torus within the geodesic approximation. For small torus volumes the metric is determined in terms of a small number of parameters. For large volumes the results provide a very precise approximation to the metric and dynamics on the plane.