Branching of center vortices in SU(3) lattice gauge theory

We analyze the branching of center vortices in SU(3) Yang-Mills theory in maximal center gauge. When properly normalized, we can define a branching probability that turns out to be independent of the lattice spacing (in the limited scaling window studied here). The branching probability shows a rapid change at the deconfinement phase transition, which is much more pronounced in space slices of the lattice as compared to time slices. Though not a strict order parameter (in the sense that it vanishes in one phase) the branching probability is thus found to be a reliable indicator for both the location of the critical temperature and the geometric rearrangement of vortex matter across the deconfinement phase transition.