Centre Vortices in Lattice QCD: Visualisations and Impact on the Gluon Propagator

Abstract

Understanding the structure of the quantum chromodynamic (QCD) vacuum is essential to explaining the properties of the strong nuclear force. In this work, we explore the centre vortex model for confinement, which has shown significant promise as an explanation for the distinctive long range properties of QCD. Specifically, we investigate the behaviour of the gluon propagator on three vortex-modified gauge field ensembles, which enables us to isolate the vortex contribution to this fundamental quantity. We also present novel visualisation techniques that allow for close inspection of the properties of the vortex vacuum. This work further reinforces the significance of centre vortices for a fundamental understanding of QCD vacuum structure.