Non-Equilibrium Phase Transitions and Domain Walls
Loading...
Date
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Description
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 described using percolation theory. The initial domain wall networks, which form between different vacua, are evolved in time by computer simulation and their behavior analyzed. It is shown that, unlike systems in thermal equilibrium, domain walls formed in biased systems persist for only a short time before decaying exponentially away. This result opens the door to a re-analysis of domain walls in cosmology.
uu-encoded postscript file. To appear in proceedings of PASCOS 95, 15 pages
uu-encoded postscript file. To appear in proceedings of PASCOS 95, 15 pages