In theoretical physics, a Nielsen–Olesen vortex is a point-like object localized in two spatial dimensions or, equivalently, a classical solution of field theory with the same property.
This particular solution occurs if the configuration space of scalar fields contains non-contractible circles.
A circle surrounding the vortex at infinity may be "wrapped" once on the other circle in the configuration space.
A configuration with this non-trivial topological property is called the Nielsen–Olesen vortex, after Holger Bech Nielsen and Poul Olesen (1973).
This quantum mechanics-related article is a stub.