Related papers: Phase Transitions out of Equilibrium: domain forma…
The dynamics of typical phase transitions is studied out of equilibrium in weakly coupled inflaton-type scalar field theories in Minkowski space. The shortcomings of the effective potential and equilibrium descriptions are pointed out. A…
We study the process of spinodal decomposition in a scalar quantum field theory that is quenched from an equilibrium disordered initial state at $T_i > T_f$ to a final state at $T_f \approx 0$. The process of formation and growth of…
In this brief review we introduce the methods of quantum field theory out of equilibrium and study the non-equilibrium aspects of phase transitions. Specifically we critically study the picture of the ``slow-roll'' phase transition in the…
We study the dynamics of a second order phase transition in a situation thatmimics a sudden quench to a temperature below the critical temperature in a model with dynamical symmetry breaking. In particular we show that the domains of…
We derive the effective equations for the out of equilibrium time evolution of the order parameter and the fluctuations of a scalar field theory in spatially flat FRW cosmologies.The calculation is performed both to one-loop and in a…
We study the non-linear dynamics of an inflationary phase transition in a quartically self coupled inflaton model within the framework of a de Sitter background. Large N and Hartree non-perturbative approximations combined with…
We review the current issues of nonequilibrium phase transitions, in particular, in the early universe. Phase transitions cannot maintain thermal equilibrium and become nonequilibrium when the thermal relaxation time scale is greater than…
Non-equilibrium phase transitions of a scalar field in an expanding spacetime are discussed. These transitions are shown to lead, for appropriate potential energy functions, to a biased choice of vacuum structure which can be analytically…
We study the full out-of-thermal-equilibrium dynamics of a relativistic classical scalar field through a symmetry breaking phase transition. In these circumstances we determine the evolution of the ensemble averages of the correlation…
The transition of sphaleron processes from non-equilibrium to thermal equilibrium in the early Universe is examined in detail. The relations between the damping rates and frequencies of the weak and QCD sphaleron degeneracy parameters are…
The universe cools down monotonically following its expansion.This generates a sequence of phase transitions. If a second order phase transition happens during the radiation dominated era with a charged order parameter, spinodal…
Supercooled first order phase transitions are typical of theories where conformal symmetry is predominantly spontaneously broken. In these theories the fate of the flat scalar direction is highly sensitive to the size and the scaling…
Strongly correlated systems far from equilibrium can exhibit scaling solutions with a dynamically generated weak coupling. We show this by investigating isolated systems described by relativistic quantum field theories for initial…
The effects of the initial temperature in the out of equilibrium quantum field dynamics in the presence of an homogeneous external field are investigated. We consider an initial thermal state of temperature T for a constant external field…
The growth of domains of stripes evolving from random initial conditions is studied in numerical simulations of models of systems far from equilibrium such as Rayleigh-Benard convection. The scaling of the size of the domains deduced from…
We have used molecular dynamics simulations for a comprehensive study of phase separation in a two-dimensional single component off-lattice model where particles interact through the Lennard-Jones potential. Via state-of-the-art methods we…
By holographic duality, we identify a novel dynamical phase transition which results from the temperature dependence of non-equilibrium dynamics of dark solitons in a superfluid.For a non-equilibrium superfluid system with an initial…
Cooling and heating faster a system is a crucial problem in science, technology and industry. Indeed, choosing the best thermal protocol to reach a desired temperature or energy is not a trivial task. Noticeably, we find that the phase…
We study the thermal phase transitions of a generic real scalar field, without a $Z_2$-symmetry, referred to variously as an inert, sterile or singlet scalar, or $\phi^3+\phi^4$ theory. Such a scalar field arises in a wide range of models,…
We study the process of relaxation back to thermal equilibrium in $(1+1)$-dimensional conformal field theory at finite temperature. When the size of the system is much larger than the inverse temperature, perturbations decay exponentially…