Over the past decade, dynamical quantum phase transitions (DQPTs) have emerged as a paradigm shift in understanding nonequilibrium quantum many-body systems. However, the challenge lies in identifying order parameters that effectively characterize the associated dynamic phases. In this study we investigate the behavior of vortex singularities in the phase of the Green's function for a broad class of fermion lattice models in three dimensions after an instantaneous quench in both interacting and noninteracting systems. We find that the full set of vortices form one-dimensional dynamical objects, which we call vortex loops. We propose that the number of such vortex loops can be interpreted as a quantized order parameter that distinguishes between different nonequilibrium phases. Our results establish an explicit link between variations in the order parameter and DQPTs in the noninteracting scenario. Moreover, we show that the vortex loops are robust in the weakly interacting case, even though there is no direct relation between the Loschmidt amplitude and the Green's function. Finally, we observe that vortex loops can form complex dynamical patterns in momentum space. Our findings provide valuable insights for developing definitions of dynamical order parameters in nonequilibrium systems.

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• Dynamical phase transitions
• Fermi gases
• Quantum quench
• Nonequilibrium lattice models