| Speaker: | Fumika Suzuki (Los Alamos National Lab) |
|---|---|
| Title: | Extending the Kibble-Zurek mechanism to weakly first-order phase transitions |
| Date (JST): | Thu, Sep 26, 2024, 13:30 - 15:00 |
| Place: | Seminar Room A |
| Abstract: |
Just as water freezes into ice, the theories of high energy physics predict that the universe has experienced phase transitions following the Big Bang, as it expanded and cooled. Signals stemming from such phase transitions would have influenced its evolution and may persist to this day, offering valuable insights into the early universe. W. H. Zurek has proposed that this mechanism can be tested in a laboratory using liquid crystals and developed a theory to predict the density of the signals (i.e., defects). It is called the Kibble-Zurek mechanism (KZM). KZM has found applications in fields such as cosmology and condensed matter physics. However, it is generally not suitable for describing first-order phase transitions. It has been demonstrated that transitions in systems like superconductors or charged superfluids, typically classified as second-order, can exhibit weakly first-order characteristics when the influence of fluctuations is taken into account. In our research, we extended the applicability of the KZM to cover weakly first-order phase transitions by combining it with nucleation theory. This result may not only deepen our understanding of diverse phase transitions in material science and condensed matter physics but also open doors to exploring various cosmological models. Ref: Fumika Suzuki, and W. H. Zurek, Topological defect formation in a phase transition with tunable order, Phys. Rev. Lett. 132, 241601 (2024) |
