Towards a quantum field theory of defects and stresses—quantum vortex dynamics in a film of superfluid helium

With the goal of developing a quantum field theory of defects under stress we first solve this problem for the simpler case of vortices in a thin film of superfluid ⁴He. The theory we obtain, to be called quantum vortex dynamics (QVD), turns out to be what is known in quantum field theory as scalar quantum electrodynamics in 2 + 1 dimensions (also called scalar Abelian Higgs model).