Higgs-confinement continuity and matching of Aharonov-Bohm phases

Abstract: Some gauge theories with a spontaneously broken $U(1)$ symmetry exhibit fractional Aharonov-Bohm (AB) phases around vortices in the Higgs regime. We discuss continuity between confining and Higgs regimes in such gauge theories with fundamental matter fields, focusing on the AB phases. By explicit calculations in relevant lattice models, we demonstrate that the AB phase is smoothly connected between the confining and Higgs regimes, supporting the Higgs-confinement continuity. This result provides new insight into phase structures of gauge theories with superfluidity, such as dense QCD.