Monopole and vortex content of a meron pair

Abstract

We investigate the monopole and vortex content of a meron pair by calculating the points at which the transformation to the Laplacian Center Gauge is ill-defined and by studying the behavior of Wilson loops. These techniques reveal complementary aspects of the vortex and monopole structure, including the presence of closed monopole lines and closed vortex surfaces joining the two merons, and evidence for intersecting vortex surfaces at each meron.

Comments: 14 pages, 5 figures. v2, minor changes, references added, to appear in PLB