Definition:Winding Number

Definition

Let $\CC$ be a closed plane curve.

Let $P$ be a point in the same plane as $\CC$.

The winding number of $\CC$ with respect to $P$ is the number of times $\CC$ goes around $P$ in an anticlockwise direction.

Also see

• Results about winding numbers can be found here.

Sources

• 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): winding number
• 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): winding number