Effect of the scalar condensate on the linear gauge field response in the Abelian Higgs model

The effective equations of motion for low-frequency mean gauge fields in the Abelian Higgs model are investigated in the presence of a scalar condensate, near the high temperature equilibrium. We determine the current induced by an inhomogeneous background gauge field in the linear response approximation up to order $e^4$, assuming adiabatic variation of the scalar fields. The physical degrees of freedom are found and a physical gauge choice for the numerical study of the combined Higgs+gauge evolution is proposed.