Related papers: Dynamics of Cosmological Phase Transitions: What C…
In this lecture at a school for condensed matter physicists, I begin with basic concepts and tools for investigating phase transitions in quantum field theory. The very different roles of global and gauge symmetries in phase transitions…
During the past two decades, cosmologists turned to particle physics in order to explore the physics of the very early Universe. The main link between the physics of the smallest and largest structures in the Universe is the idea of…
Physical processes related to cosmological first-order phase transitions are discussed and reviewed in this introductory part of dissertation. I first describe cosmological phase transitions on a general level, concentrating on bubble…
The study of cosmic phase transitions are of central interest in modern cosmology. In the standard model of cosmology the Universe begins in a very hot state, right after at the end of inflation via the process of reheating/preheating, and…
The dynamics of symmetry breaking during out of equilibrium phase transitions is a topic of great importance in many disciplines, from condensed matter to particle physics and early Universe cosmology with definite experimental impact. In…
In this chapter I discuss the impact of concepts of Quantum Field Theory in modern Condensed Physics. Although the interplay between these two areas is certainly not new, the impact and mutual cross-fertilization has certainly grown…
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…
A selected set of topics in quantum phase transition is discussed. It includes dissipative quantum phase transitions, the role of disorder, and the relevance of quantum phase transition to measurement theory in quantum mechanics.
The sequence of phase transitions during the hot history of the universe is followed within a phenomenological framework. Particular emphasis is put on the QCD confinement transition, which is at reach under earth laboratory conditions. A…
In the first one of these two lectures, I give an introductory review of phase transitions in finite temperature field theories. I highlight the differences between theories with global and local symmetries, and the similarities between…
The dynamics of phase transitions plays a crucial r\^ole in the so-called interface between high energy particle physics and cosmology. Many of the interesting results generated during the last fifteen years or so rely on simplified…
We review briefly the current status of thermal phase transitions within the Standard Model and its simplest extensions. We start with an update on QCD thermodynamics, then discuss the electroweak phase transition, particularly in…
The ordering dynamics of the Higgs field is studied, using techniques inspired by the study of phase ordering in condensed matter physics, as a first step to understanding the evolution of cosmic structure through the formation of…
Quantum phase transition is one of the main interests in the field of condensed matter physics, while geometric phase is a fundamental concept and has attracted considerable interest in the field of quantum mechanics. However, no relevant…
In this proceedings contribution we discuss the fate of the electroweak and the quantum chromodynamics phase transitions relevant for the early stage of the universe at non-zero temperature. These phase transitions are related to the Higgs…
The dynamics of a cosmological (de)confinement phase transition is studied in nearly conformally invariant field theories, where confinement is predominantly spontaneously generated and associated with a light "dilaton" field. We show how…
We summarise the physics of first-order phase transitions in the early universe, and the possible ways in which they might come about. We then focus on gravitational waves, emphasising general qualitative features of stochastic backgrounds…
We study chiral symmetry structure at finite density and temperature in the presence of external magnetic field and gravity, a situation relevant in the early Universe and in the core of compact stars. We then investigate the dynamical…
The evolution of the Universe is the ultimate laboratory to study fundamental physics across energy scales that span about 25 orders of magnitude: from the grand unification scale through particle and nuclear physics scales down to the…
Symmetry-breaking phase transitions are ubiquitous in condensed matter systems and in quantum field theories. There is also good reason to believe that they feature in the very early history of the Universe. At many such transitions…