Related papers: Defect Formation in First Order Phase Transitions …
We investigate the stability of Quantum Critical Points (QCPs) in the presence of two competing phases. These phases near QCPs are assumed to be either classical or quantum and assumed to repulsively interact via square-square interactions.…
Many systems in nature and the synthetic world involve ordered arrangements of units on two-dimensional surfaces. We review here the fundamental role payed by both the topology of the underlying surface and its detailed curvature. Topology…
If a theory has more than one classically stable vacuum, quantum tunneling and thermal jumps make the transition between the vacua possible. The transition happens through a first order phase transition started by nucleation of a bubble of…
Using Monte Carlo simulations, we study thermal and critical properties of two systems, in which domain walls and so-called $Z_2$-vortices as topological defects are presented. The main model is a lattice version of the $O(3)$ principal…
We study induced nucleation by considering the accumulation rate of shrinking subcritical bubbles. We derive the probability for a collection of subcritical bubbles to form a critical bubble, and argue that this mechanism could well play a…
Pairs of atomic scale terraces on a single crystal metal surface can be made to merge controllably under suitable conditions to yield steps of double height and width. We study the effect of various physical parameters on the formation of…
We calculate the grand canonical partition function at the one-loop level for scalar quantum electrodynamics at finite temperature and chemical potential. A classical background charge density with a charge opposite that of the scalars…
A layered system of charges with logarithmic interaction parallel to the layers and random dipoles in each layer is studied via a variational method and an energy rationale. These methods reproduce the known phase diagram for a single layer…
The formation of topological defects during continuous second-order phase transitions is well described by the Kibble-Zurek mechanism (KZM). However, when the spontaneously broken symmetry is only approximate, such transitions become smooth…
The effect of the Coulomb interaction on the phase diagram of finite nuclei is studied within the Canonical Thermodynamic Model. If Coulomb effects are artificially switched off, this model shows a phenomenology consistent with the…
We revisit the phase structure and thermodynamics of QCD in the low temperature and high density region, where a strong, first-order phase transition is expected beyond the critical end point. By solving the quark gap equation in the…
We consider a broad class of second-order dynamical systems and study the impact of damping as a system parameter on the stability, hyperbolicity, and bifurcation in such systems. We prove a monotonic effect of damping on the hyperbolicity…
We study the effects of the inclusion of fluids In bounce scenarios driven by an exponential potential scalar field. Most solutions exhibit well known tracking behavior between the fluids and the scalar field. This tracking behavior can…
Topological defects can be formed during inflation by phase transitions as well as by quantum nucleation. We study the effect of the expansion of the Universe on the internal structure of the defects. We look for stationary solutions to the…
The effects of the charging energy in the superconducting transition of granular materials or Josephson junction arrays is investigated using a pseudospin one model. Within a mean-field renormalization-group approach, we obtain the phase…
A first order phase transition usually proceeds by nucleating bubbles of the new phase which then rapidly expand. In confining gauge theories with a gravity dual, the deconfined phase is often described by a black hole. If one starts in…
Cosmological phase transitions are predicted by Particle Physics models, and have a variety of important cosmological consequences, which depend strongly on the dynamics of the transition. In this work we investigate in detail the general…
I calculate the first corrections to the dynamical pre-exponential factor of the bubble nucleation rate for a relativistic first-order phase transition in an expanding cosmological background by estimating the effects of the Hubble…
In these lectures, I review cosmological phase transitions and the topological aspects of spontaneous symmetry breaking. I then discuss the formation of walls, strings and monopoles during phase transitions including lattice based studies…
We investigate the system size scaling of the net defect number created by a rapid quench in a second-order quantum phase transition from an O(N) symmetric state to a phase of broken symmetry. Using a controlled mean-field expansion for…