Magnetic monopoles, center vortices, confinement and topology of gauge fields

The vortex picture of confinement is studied. The deconfinement phase transition is explained as a transition from a phase in which vortices percolate to a phase of small vortices. Lattice results are presented in support of this scenario. Furthermore the topological properties of magnetic monopoles and center vortices arising, respectively, in Abelian and center gauges are studied in continuum Yang-Mills-theory. For this purpose the continuum analog of the maximum center gauge is constructed.