Related papers: Symmetry breaking and defects
Spontaneous symmetry breaking underlies much of our classification of phases of matter and their associated transitions. The nature of the underlying symmetry being broken determines many of the qualitative properties of the phase; this is…
We investigate two concrete cases of phase transitions breaking a subsystem symmetry. The models are two classical compass models featuring line-flip and plane-flip symmetries and correspond to special limits of a Heisenberg-Kitaev…
Investigations of emergent symmetry breaking phenomena occurring in small finite-size systems are reviewed, with a focus on the strongly correlated regime of electrons in two-dimensional semicoductor quantum dots and trapped ultracold…
Combination of topology and general relativity can lead to some profound and farsighted predictions. It is well known that symmetry breaking of the Higgs vacuum field in the early universe possibly induced topological defects in spacetime,…
As phenomena that necessarily emerge from the collective behavior of interacting particles, phase transitions continue to be difficult to predict using statistical thermodynamics. A recent proposal called the topological hypothesis suggests…
I discuss various ways in which CPT symmetry may be violated, and their phenomenology in current or immediate future experimental facilities, both terrestrial and astrophysical. Specifically, I discuss first violations of CPT symmetry due…
Topology forms a cornerstone in modern condensed matter and statistical physics, offering a new framework to classify the phases and phase transitions beyond the traditional Landau paradigm. However, it is widely believed that topological…
Some recent experimental and theoretical work on 1) charge symmetry-breaking, 2) parity non-conservation, and 3) searches for breaking of time reversal invariance are reviewed. The examples illustrate the uses of symmetry to learn about…
The question of whether Bose-Einstein condensation involves spontaneous symmetry breaking is surprisingly controversial. We review the theory of spontaneous symmetry breaking in ferromagnets, compare it to the theory of symmetry breaking in…
Why does spontaneous symmetry breaking occur? Why is a state breaking symmetry realized? We explore an idea that measurement selects such a state even if a system is given in a state respecting the symmetry of the system. We point out that…
Finite group symmetry is commonplace in Physics, in particular through crystallographic groups occurring in condensed matter physics -- but also through the inversions (C,P,T and their combinations) occurring in high energy physics and…
Topological phase transitions are typically associated with the formation of gapless states. Spontaneous symmetry breaking can lead to a gap opening thereby obliterating the topological nature of the system. Here we highlight a completely…
We present a theory characterizing the phases emerging as a consequence of continuous symmetry-breaking in quantum and classical systems. In symmetry-breaking phases, dynamics is restricted due to the existence of a set of conserved charges…
The interplay between spontaneously broken gauge symmetries and Bose-Einstein condensation has long been controversially discussed in science, since the equation of motions are invariant under phase transformations. Within the present model…
The relation between symmetry breaking in non-commutative cut-off field theories and transitions to inhomogeneous phases in condensed matter and in finite density QCD is discussed. The non-commutative dynamics, with its peculiar…
Time crystals are a phase of matter, for which the discrete time symmetry of the driving Hamiltonian is spontaneously broken. The breaking of discrete time symmetry has been observed in several experiments in driven spin systems. Here, we…
By resorting to some results in quantum field theories with spontaneous breakdown of symmetry we show that an explanation based on microscopic dynamics can be given of the fact that topological defect formation is observed during the…
Our understanding of the mechanism by which topological defects are formed in symmetry breaking phase transitions has recently changed. We examine the non-equilibrium dynamics of defect formation for weakly-coupled global O(N) theories…
Defects are ubiquitous in nature, for example dislocations, shocks, bores, or impurities of various kinds, and their descriptions are an important part of any physical theory. However, one might ask the question: what types of defect are…
We investigate what determines the shape of a particle condensate in situations when it emerges as a result of spontaneous breaking of translational symmetry. We consider a model with particles hopping between sites of a one-dimensional…