Visualizations of Centre Vortex Structure in Lattice Simulations

Abstract

The structure of centre vortices in SU(3) gauge-field configurations is examined through modern visualization techniques. Centre vortices are identified through gauge transformations maximizing the centre of the gauge group. Focusing on the thin vortices identified by Wilson loops having a non-trivial centre phase, the vortex structure is illustrated through renderings of oriented spatial plaquettes. Time oriented plaquettes are illustrated by identifying spatial links associated with these non-trivial plaquettes. The results illustrate an important role for the branching of SU(3) centre vortices, possibly through monopole anti-monopole dynamics. Of particular interest is the correlation of the vortex structure and the topological-charge structure of the gauge fields, vital to dynamical chiral symmetry breaking and its associated mass generation. Singular points, where the projected vortex structure contains non-trivial centre phases in associated plaquettes spanning all four dimensions, are observed within the regions of nontrivial topological charge density calculated on the original Monte-Carlo generated configurations. The results provide new insights into the role of centre vortices in underpinning non-trivial topology in gauge fields. They reveal how the removal of centre-vortices necessarily destroys non-trivial topology and destabilizes would-be instantons under smoothing algorithms. The observed correlations further strengthen the idea that centre vortices are the seeds of dynamical chiral symmetry breaking.