Visualisation of Centre Vortex Structure

TL;DR

This paper introduces novel visualization techniques to explore the centre vortex structure in SU(3) gauge fields, revealing the role of vortex branching points in topological charge density and providing new insights into QCD vacuum topology.

Contribution

It presents innovative visualization methods for centre vortices in SU(3) gauge theory, highlighting the significance of vortex branching points in topological charge generation.

Findings

Vortex branching points are crucial in high topological charge regions.

Visualizations reveal frequent singular points in vortex structures.

Correlation between vortex structures and topological charge density is established.

Abstract

The centre vortex structure of the $SU(3)$ gauge field vacuum is explored through the use of novel visualisation techniques. The lattice is partitioned into 3D time slices, and vortices are identified by locating plaquettes with nontrivial centre 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 visualisations 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. Visualisations 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 centre vortices generate nontrivial gauge field topology. This work demonstrates the utility of visualisations in conducting centre vortex studies, presenting new avenues with which to investigate this perspective of the QCD vacuum.