Topology of center vortices Original Research Article

The topology of center vortices is studied. For this purpose it is sufficient to consider mathematically idealised vortices, defined in a gauge invariant way as closed (infinitely thin) flux surfaces (in D=4 dimensions) which contribute the nth power of a non-trivial center element to Wilson loops when they are n-foldly linked to the latter. In ordinary 3-space generic center vortices represent closed magnetic flux loops which evolve in time. I show that the topological charge of such a time-dependent vortex loop can be entirely expressed by the temporal changes of its writhing number.