Embedded Vortices

We present a discussion of embedded vortices in general Yang-Mills theories. The origin of a family structure of solutions is shown to be group theoretic in nature and a procedure for its determination is developed. Vortex stability can be quantified into three types: Abelian topological stability, non-Abelian topological stability, and dynamical stability; we relate these to the family structure of vortices, in particular discussing how Abelian topological and dynamical stability are related. The formalism generally encompasses embedded domain walls and embedded monopoles also.