Related papers: Formation, Interaction and Observation of Topologi…

We re-examine a population model which exhibits a continuous absorbing phase transition which belongs to directed percolation in 1+1 dimensions and a first order transition in 2+1 dimensions and above. Studying the model on fractal…

(3+1)D topological phases of matter can host a broad class of non-trivial topological defects of codimension-1, 2, and 3, of which the well-known point charges and flux loops are special cases. The complete algebraic structure of these…

The topic of this letter is structure formation with topological defects. We first present a partially new, fully local and gauge invariant system of perturbation equations to treat microwave background and dark matter fluctuations induced…

Point-like topological defects are singular configurations that occur in a variety of in and out of equilibrium systems with two-dimensional orientational order. As they are associated with a nonzero circuitation condition, the presence of…

First order phase transitions (FOPTs) constitute an active area of contemporary research as a promising cosmological source of observable gravitational waves. The spacetime dynamics of the background scalar field undergoing the phase…

We examine the interplay of symmetry and topological order in $2+1$ dimensional topological phases of matter. We present a definition of the \it topological symmetry \rm group, which characterizes the symmetry of the emergent topological…

Conformational transitions are ubiquitous in biomolecular systems, have significant functional roles and are subject to evolutionary pressures. Here we provide a first theoretical framework for topological transition, i.e. conformational…

We show how conformal field theory topological defects can relate solutions of open string field theory for different boundary conditions. To this end we generalize the results of Graham and Watts to include the action of defects on…

Highly personalysed and subjective review of studies of the equilibrium, pulsations and stability of stars with the first-order phase transition.

We find a series of topological phase transitions of increasing order, beyond the more standard second-order phase transition in a one-dimensional topological superconductor. The jumps in the order of the transitions depend on the range of…

In condensed matter physics and related areas, topological defects play important roles in phase transitions and critical phenomena. Homotopy theory facilitates the classification of such topological defects. After a pedagogic introduction…

In these lectures, I review the current status of cosmic strings and cosmic superstrings. I first discuss topological defects in the context of Grand Unified Theories, focusing in particular in cosmic strings arising as gauge theory…

The topology of space is usually assumed simply connected, but could be multi-connected. We review in the latter case the possibility that topological defects arising at high energy phase transitions might still be present and find that…

Cosmic strings are topological defects possibly formed in the early Universe, which may be observable due to their gravitational effects on the cosmic microwave background radiation or gravitational wave experiments. To this effect it is…

Superconductors are the only experimentally accessible systems with spontaneously broken gauge symmetries which support topologically nontrivial defects, namely string defects. We propose two experiments whose aim is the observation of the…

The canonical Monte-Carlo algorithm for simulating the production of string-like topological defects at a phase transition is extended by introducing a distribution of domain sizes. A strong correlation is found between the fraction in the…

A dynamic symmetry-breaking transition with noise and inertia is analyzed. Exact solution of the linearized equation that describes the critical region allows precise calculation (exponent and prefactor) of the number of defects produced as…

In these lectures I discuss cosmological phase transitions with the goal of establishing the possibility of observational consequences. I argue that the {\em only} phase transition amenable of experimental study within the foreseeable…

We study the behaviour and consequences of cosmic string networks in contracting universes. They approximately behave during the collapse phase as a radiation fluids. Scaling solutions describing this are derived and tested against…

Topological quantum phase transitions are characterised by changes in global topological invariants. These invariants classify many body systems beyond the conventional paradigm of local order parameters describing spontaneous symmetry…