  We build a bridge between two algebraic structures in SCFT: a VOA in the
Schur sector of 4d $\mathcal{N}=2$ theories and an associative algebra in the
Higgs sector of 3d $\mathcal{N}=4$. The natural setting is a 4d $\mathcal{N}=2$
SCFT placed on $S^3\times S^1$: by sending the radius of $S^1$ to zero, we
recover the 3d $\mathcal{N}=4$ theory, and the corresponding VOA on the torus
degenerates to the associative algebra on the circle. We prove that: 1) the
Higgs branch operators remain in the cohomology; 2) all the Schur operators of
the non-Higgs type are lifted by line operators wrapped on the $S^1$; 3) no new
cohomology classes are added. We show that the algebra in 3d is given by the
quotient $\mathcal{A}_H = {\rm Zhu}_{s}(V)/N$, where ${\rm Zhu}_{s}(V)$ is the
non-commutative Zhu algebra of the VOA $V$ (for ${s}\in{\rm Aut}(V)$), and $N$
is a certain ideal. This ideal is the null space of the (${s}$-twisted) trace
map $T_{s}: {\rm Zhu}_{s}(V) \to \mathbb{C}$ determined by the torus 1-point
function in the high temperature (or small complex structure) limit. It
therefore equips $\mathcal{A}_H$ with a non-degenerate (twisted) trace, leading
to a short star-product according to the recent results of Etingof and Stryker.
The map $T_{s}$ is easy to determine for unitary VOAs, but has a much subtler
structure for non-unitary and non-$C_2$-cofinite VOAs of our interest. We
comment on relation to the Beem-Rastelli conjecture on the Higgs branch and the
associated variety. A companion paper will explore further details, examples,
and some applications of these ideas.
