Superconducting Semilocal Stringy (Hopf) Textures

The dynamics of texture-like configurations are briefly reviewed. Emphasis is given to configurations in 2+1 dimensions which are constructed numerically. Confirming previous semi-analytical studies it is shown that they can be stabilized by partial gauging of the vacuum manifold (semilocality) in a finite range of parameter space. When these configurations are extended to 3+1 dimensions (stringy textures) it is shown that they can support persistent currents if a twist (Hopf charge) is introduced in the scalar field sector. The pressure induced by these persistent currents is also studied in closed loops. In the context of a simple model, twist induced pressure is shown to be insufficient to stabilize the loops against collapse due to tension