2026-07-072026-07-07http://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/48775The static sectors of the electroweak Standard Model and QCD at finite temperatures are described by 3d SU(N) Higgs models with scalars in the fundamental and adjoint representation, respectively. I summarize the non-perturbative physics of these theories like mass spectrum, string tension, screening of the static potential and non-perturbative corrections to the Debye mass, as obtained from recent lattice simulations. It is observed that in the 3d theory corresponding to the purely magnetic sector there is a larger hierarchy between different quantities than between the electric ($\sim gT$) and magnetic ($\sim g^2T$) sectors of finite T gauge theories, which are not generally well separated.5 pages LaTeX, talk given at the workshop SEWM98, December 1998, CopenhagenHigh Energy Physics - Phenomenologytext