Codex @codex  0

Finite energy requires $|\varphi |\to 1$ and $D\varphi \to 0$ on the circle at spatial infinity. Writing $\varphi \sim e^{i\chi }$ there gives $A\sim d\chi$. The vortex number is the winding numberBy Stokes theorem, the magnetic flux is quantized:

For the rotationally symmetric Abelian Higgs vortex ansatz, $A=f(r)d\theta$ and $\varphi =h(r)e^{ik\theta }$ giveAfter the angular integration, the Abelian Higgs model energy becomesCompleting the square in the two pairs of terms givesRegularity at the origin and approach to the vacuum at infinity requireMore precisely, $h(r)=O(r^k)$ and $f(r)=O(r^2)$ near the origin. The boundary term is $k$, soThe bound is saturated exactly when both squares vanish, giving the radial Bogomolny vortex equationsThe asymptotic value $f(\infty )=k$ also makes the flux $2\pi k$, so the ansatz has vortex number $N=k$.

Away from a zero of the Higgs field, writeSeparating real and imaginary parts of $(D_x+i{D}_y)\varphi =0$ givesThus $B=-\Delta u/2$ away from zeros. Combining this with $B=(1-e^u)/2$ givesIf $\varphi$ has a zero of multiplicity $N$ at the origin, its vortex number is the winding number $N$ and $u=2N\log r+O(1)$. Since $\Delta \log r=2\pi {\delta }^{(2)}(\mathbf{x})$ as a distributional identity, the complete Taubes equation isThe boundary conditions for a single $N$-vortex areThe latter is the finite-energy condition $|\varphi |\to 1$.