Center Vortices and Chiral Symmetry Breaking

We investigate the chiral properties of near-zero modes for thick classical center vortices in SU(2) lattice gauge theory as examples of the phenomena which may arise in a vorex vacuum. In particular we analyze the creation of near-zero modes from would-be zero modes of various topological charge contributions from center vortices. We show that colorful spherical vortex and instanton ensembles have very similar Dirac eigenmodes and also vortex intersections are able to give rise to a finite density of near-zero modes, leading to chiral symmetry breaking via the Banks-Casher formula. We discuss the influence of the magnetic vortex fluxes on quarks and how center vortices may break chiral symmetry.