Abstract
Vortex configurations in the electroweak gauge theory are investigated. Two gauge-inequivalent solutions of the field equations, the Z and W vortices, have previously been found. They correspond to embeddings of the Abelian Nielsen-Olesen vortex solution into a U(1) subgroup of SU(2)×U(1). It is shown here that any electroweak vortex solution can be mapped into a solution of the same energy with a vanishing upper component of the Higgs field. The correspondence is a gauge equivalence for all vortex solutions except those for which the winding numbers of the upper and lower Higgs components add to zero. This class of solutions, which includes the W vortex, corresponds to a singular solution in the one-component gauge. The results, combined with numerical investigations, provide an argument against the existence of other vortex solutions in the gauge-Higgs sector of the Standard Model.
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