Defect formation in the early universe
arXiv:astro-ph/0307387 · doi:10.1080/00107510310001607206
Abstract
Topological defects are common in many everyday systems. In general, they appear if a symmetry is broken at a rapid phase transition. In this article, I explain why it is believed that they should have also been formed in the early universe and how that would have happened. If topological defects are found, this will provide a way to study observationally the first fractions of a second after the Big Bang, but their apparent absence can also tell us many things about the early universe.
26 pages, 10 figures. Updated to match the version published in Contemporary Physics (http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/link.asp?id=dcvj45hv41kr7xf7)