The Formation of Classical Defects After a Slow Quantum Phase Transition

Abstract

Classical defects (monopoles, vortices, etc.) are a characteristic consequence of many phase transitions of quantum fields. We show a model in which the onset of classical probability distributions, for the long-wavelength modes at early times, allows the identification of line-zeroes of the field with vortex separation. We obtain a refined version of Kibble's causal results for defect separation, but from a completely different approach. It is apparent that vortices are not created from thermal fluctuations in the Ginzburg regime.

10 pages, RevTex file. No figures. To appear in Phys. Lett. B

References in corpus (3)

• Formation of topological defects in gauge field theories
• Classicality of the order parameter during a phase transition
• Classical behaviour after a phase transition

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Decoherence during Inflation: the generation of classical inhomogeneities
• Decoherence in Field Theory: General Couplings and Slow Quenches
• Irreducible cosmic production of relic vortons
• Real time approach to tunneling in open quantum systems: decoherence and anomalous diffusion
• Decoherence of domains and defects at phase transitions
• How Phase Transitions induce classical behaviour