Evolution of fields in a second order phase transition
- 15 September 1995
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review D
- Vol. 52 (6) , 3298-3313
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.52.3298
Abstract
We analyze the evolution of scalar and gauge fields during a second order phase transition using a Langevin equation approach. We show that topological defects formed during the phase transition are stable to thermal fluctuations. Our method allows the field evolution to be followed throughout the phase transition, for both expanding and nonexpanding universes. The results verify the Kibble mechanism for defect formation during phase transitions.Keywords
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