We investigate the structure of topological defects in the ground states of
spinor Bose-Einstein condensates with spin F=1 or F=2. The type and number of
defects are determined by calculating the first and second homotopy groups of
the order-parameter space. The order-parameter space is identified with a set
of degenerate ground state spinors. Because the structure of the ground state
depends on whether or not there is an external magnetic field applied to the
system, defects are sensitive to the magnetic field. We study both cases and
find that the defects in zero and non-zero field are different.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure. Published versio