Nonlinear Phenomena in Complex Systems, 1999, Vol.2, No.4, pp.26--35

NONLINEAR PHENOMENA IN COMPLEX SYSTEMS
An Interdisciplinary Journal

1999, Volume 2, Number 4, pp.26--35

Cosmological experiments in liquid helium.
P.C. Hendry and P.V.E. McClintock

Fast passage through a continuous phase transition is expected to result in the creation of topical defects via the Kibble mechanism. Recent experiments involving the expansion of a small volume of liquid ⁴He through the lambda (superfluid) transition, as a model of the GUT (grand unified theory) symmetry-breaking transition of the early universe, are discussed and set in context. Copious creation of quantized vortices, analogous to cosmic strings, is expected but not observed. The possibility of developing a more sensitive version of the experiment is considered.

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