Denoted and defined as the number of times a path curve passes around a point.
The contour winding number was part of the inspiration for the idea of the Degree of a Map
between two Compact, oriented Manifolds of the same Dimension. In
the language of the Degree of a Map, if
is a closed curve
(i.e.,
), then it can be considered as a Function from to . In
that context, the winding number of around a point in is given by the degree of the Map