  The structure of centre vortices in SU(3) gauge-field configurations is
examined through modern visualization techniques. Centre vortices are
identified through gauge transformations maximizing the centre of the gauge
group. Focusing on the thin vortices identified by Wilson loops having a
non-trivial centre phase, the vortex structure is illustrated through
renderings of oriented spatial plaquettes. Time oriented plaquettes are
illustrated by identifying spatial links associated with these non-trivial
plaquettes. The results illustrate an important role for the branching of SU(3)
centre vortices, possibly through monopole anti-monopole dynamics. Of
particular interest is the correlation of the vortex structure and the
topological-charge structure of the gauge fields, vital to dynamical chiral
symmetry breaking and its associated mass generation. Singular points, where
the projected vortex structure contains non-trivial centre phases in associated
plaquettes spanning all four dimensions, are observed within the regions of
nontrivial topological charge density calculated on the original Monte-Carlo
generated configurations. The results provide new insights into the role of
centre vortices in underpinning non-trivial topology in gauge fields. They
reveal how the removal of centre-vortices necessarily destroys non-trivial
topology and destabilizes would-be instantons under smoothing algorithms. The
observed correlations further strengthen the idea that centre vortices are the
seeds of dynamical chiral symmetry breaking.
