Related papers: Fluctuations and Phase Transition Dynamics
Topological defects are ubiquitous in condensed-matter physics but only hypothetical in the early universe. In spite of this, even an indirect evidence for one of these cosmic objects would revolutionize our vision of the cosmos. We give…
When a quantum many-particle system exists on a randomly diluted lattice, its intrinsic thermal and quantum fluctuations coexist with geometric fluctuations due to percolation. In this paper, we explore how the interplay of these…
Some recent developments concerning the role of strange quark matter for astrophysical systems and the QCD phase transition in the early universe are addressed. Causality constraints of the soft nuclear equation of state as extracted from…
In this conference proceeding, I discuss in detail the deconfinement to quark matter that takes place at large densities and/or temperatures. The first-order phase transition that is assumed to appear beyond a critical point gives rise to…
We examine from first principles one of the basic assumptions of modern quantum theories of structure formation in the early universe, i.e., the conditions upon which fluctuations of a quantum field may transmute into classical stochastic…
It is believed that the core of a neutron star can be host to various novel phases of matter, from nucleon superfluid phase to exotic high baryon density quantum chromodynamics (QCD) phases. Different observational signals for such phase…
The Kibble-Zurek mechanism describes the evolution of topological defect structures like domain walls, strings, and monopoles when a system is driven through a second order phase transition. The model is used on very different scales like…
Quantum Field Theory (QFT) makes predictions by combining two sets of assumptions: (1) quantum dynamics, such as a Schrodinger or Liouville equation; (2) quantum measurement, such as stochastic collapse to an eigenfunction of a measurement…
In these lectures we review the constraints on particle physics models arising from cosmic defects. This includes constraints on theories where stable cosmic string loops, or vortons result. These can arise in supersymmetric theories. We…
Verlinde and Zurek (VZ) have proposed that quantum gravity fluctuations in causal diamonds lead to observable effects. In particular, they argued that in quantum gravity causal diamonds have an uncertainty in their size that scales as…
The next generation of gravitational wave detectors holds out the prospect of detecting a stochastic gravitational background generated in the very early universe. In this article, we review the various cosmological processes which can lead…
Enhanced fluctuations and correlations have been observed in the phase transitions of many systems. Their appearance at the predicted QCD phase transition (especially near the expected critical point) may provide insight into the nature of…
The topic of cosmic strings provides a bridge between the physics of the very small and the very large. They are predicted by some unified theories of particle interactions. If they exist, they may help to explain some of the largest-scale…
We propose a theory to explain the experimental observed deviation from the Kibble-Zurek mechanism (KZM) scaling in rapidly quenched critical phase transition dynamics. There is a critical quench rate $\tau_{Q}^{c1}$ above it the KZM…
A new experiment has been performed to study the formation of topological defects (quantized vortices) during rapid quenches of liquid 4He through the superfluid transition, with particular care taken to minimise vortex creation via…
A quantum fluctuation theorem for a driven quantum subsystem interacting with its environment is derived based solely on the assumption that its reduced density matrix obeys a closed evolution equation i.e. a quantum master equation (QME).…
In recent years, quantum phase transitions have attracted the interest of both theorists and experimentalists in condensed matter physics. These transitions, which are accessed at zero temperature by variation of a non-thermal control…
We address the issue of the quantum-classical correspondence in chaotic systems using, as recently done by Zurek [e-print quant-ph/9802054], the solar system as a whole as a case study: this author shows that the classicality of the…
We have imaged spontaneously created arrays of vortices (magnetic flux quanta), generated in a superconducting film quenched through its transition temperature at rates around $10^9 K/s$. Spontaneous appearance of vortices is predicted by…
Phase transitions associated with nearly conformal dynamics are known to lead to significant supercooling. A notorious example is the phase transition in Randall-Sundrum models or their CFT duals. In fact, it was found that the phase…