Related papers: Big Bang as a critical point
We study the physics of quantum phase transitions from the perspective of non-equilibrium thermodynamics. For first order quantum phase transitions, we find that the average work done per quench in crossing the critical point is…
Quantum gravity may shed light on the prehistory of the universe. Quantum corrections to gravity affect the dynamics of the expansion of the universe. Their influence is studied on the example of the exactly solvable quantum model. The…
The exactly solvable quantum model of the homogeneous, isotropic and closed universe in the matter-energy production epoch is considered. It is assumed that the universe is originally filled with a uniform scalar field and a perfect fluid…
Quantum phase transitions arise in many-body systems due to competing interactions that promote rivaling ground states. Recent years have seen the identification of continuous quantum phase transitions, or quantum critical points, in a host…
General relativity describes the gravitational field geometrically and in a self-interacting way because it couples to all forms of energy, including its own. Both features make finding a quantum theory difficult, yet it is important in the…
The QCD phase diagram might exhibit a first order phase transition for large baryochemical potentials. We explore the cosmological implications of such a QCD phase transition in the early universe. We propose that the large baryon-asymmetry…
Eternal inflation arising from a potential landscape predicts that our universe is one realization of many possible cosmological histories. One way to access different cosmological histories is via the nucleation of bubble universes from a…
Large scale magnetic fields represent a triple point where cosmology, high-energy physics and astrophysics meet for different but related purposes. After reviewing the implications of large scale magnetic fields in these different areas,…
The Friedmann cosmological solution of the standard Einstein gravitational field equation has a curvature singularity at a moment in time known as the Big Bang. It has been suggested that this Big Bang curvature singularity can be…
The formation of topological defects in a second order phase transition in the early universe is an out-of-equilibrium process. Condensed matter experiments seem to support Zurek's mechanism, in which the freezing of thermal fluctuations…
While inflation has been an extremely successful cosmological paradigm, almost certainly something have had to have happened before it began. Can the pre-inflationary phase be of any theoretical or phenomenological significance? Could…
Stochastic processes with absorbing states feature remarkable examples of non-equilibrium universal phenomena. While a broad understanding has been progressively established in the classical regime, relatively little is known about the…
Quantum criticality is the intriguing possibility offered by the laws of quantum mechanics when the wave function of a many-particle physical system is forced to evolve continuously between two distinct, competing ground states. This…
Phase transitions in the early universe can readily create an observable stochastic gravitational wave background. We show that such a background necessarily contains anisotropies analogous to those of the cosmic microwave background (CMB)…
Recently topological states of matter have witnessed a new physical phenomenon where both edge modes and gapless bulk coexist at topological quantum criticality. The presence and absence of edge modes on a critical line can lead to an…
Quantum shape-phase transitions in finite nuclei are considered in the framework of the interacting boson model. Critical-point Hamiltonians for first- and second-order transitions are identified by resolving them into intrinsic and…
This work focuses on the newly discovered bifurcation phase transition of CDT quantum gravity. We define various order parameters and investigate which is most suitable to study this transition in numerical simulations. By analyzing the…
In this paper we review the theory of unconventional quantum critical points that are beyond the Landau's paradigm. Three types of unconventional quantum critical points will be discussed: (1). The transition between topological order and…
Scalar-tensor theories of gravity that embrace conformal coupling to the scalar curvature are the focal point of cosmology on discussions of inflation and late-time accelerating universe. Although there exists a stringent nucleo-synthesis…
Scaling laws for critical phenomena take pivotal status in almost all branches of physics. However, as scaling laws are commonly guaranteed by the renormalization group theory, systems that violate them have rarely been found. In this…