Visualization of center vortex structure

Abstract

The center vortex structure of the SU(3) gauge field vacuum is explored through the use of novel visualization techniques. The lattice is partitioned into 3D time slices, and vortices are identified by locating plaquettes with nontrivial center phases. Vortices are illustrated by rendering vortex lines that pierce these nontrivial plaquettes. Nontrivial plaquettes with one dimension in the suppressed time direction are rendered by identifying the visible spatial link. These visualizations highlight the frequent presence of singular points and reveal an important role for branching points in SU(3) gauge theory in creating high topological charge density regimes. Visualizations of the topological charge density are presented, and an investigation into the correlation between vortex structures and topological charge density is conducted. The results provide new insight into the mechanisms by which center vortices generate nontrivial gauge field topology. This work demonstrates the utility of visualizations in conducting center vortex studies, presenting new avenues with which to investigate this perspective of the QCD vacuum.