Topological defects nucleated during a symmetry-breaking phase transition quench
Defects: 0 | Phase: disordered
The Kibble-Zurek mechanism predicts that when a system is rapidly quenched through a phase transition, causal horizons prevent global ordering, leaving behind topological defects (vortices). Faster quenches produce more defects. The density scales as n ~ τ_Q^(-ν/(1+νz)) where τ_Q is the quench time.