Gauge vortex dynamics at finite mass of bosonic fields - art. no. 085003

It is shown that the effective vortex dynamics resulting from an Abelian Hi ggs model is not necessarily governed by the Nambu-Goto action, provided th e Higgs and vector boson masses an kept finite. This results in a slower co ntour motion characterized by the velocity suppressed, in the London limit, mainly as the ratio of the vector boson mass to its Higgs counterpart. The rate of the dissipationless helicity change is calculated. It is demonstra ted how the conservation of the sum of the twisting and writhing numbers of the string is recovered despite the changing helicity. [S0556-2821(99)0420 6-X].