  Vortices in the SU(2)--Higgs model: The presence of a fundamental Higgs in
the SU(N)-Higgs model yields color screening at some finite distance. Whereas
the transition to the Higgs "phase" is accompanied by a suppression of
projected center vortices, there is nearly no influence of color screening on
the vortex properties in the confined "phase". Hence the behavior of the Wilson
loop can be described in both phases within the vortex picture of confinement.
  Vortices and the covariant adjoint Laplacian: Laplacian center gauge is a
method to localize center vortices in SU(N) gauge theory. We show that the
eigenvectors of the covariant adjoint Laplacian identify vortices for a special
class of gauge field configurations. However, for Monte Carlo generated
configurations, modified approaches are required.
