QUANTUM-THEORY OF MAGNETIC STRINGS

Quantum magnetic string creation operators are studied in the framewor k of Maxwell theory and the Abelian Higgs model, paying special attent ion to locality. The two-point function for an infinite straight strin g is evaluated exactly in Maxwell theory and in the approximation wher e the absolute value of the Higgs field is a constant, in the Abelian Higgs model. From the large distance behavior of it, the string energy per unit length is obtained. Potential applications exist in the elec troweak baryogenesis scenario, in the catalysis of proton decay, and i n condensed matter.