Year: 1998
Type: article
Abstract: During a very rapid superfluid transition in ${}^{3}\mathrm{He}$ following a reaction with a single neutron, the creation of topological defects (vortices) has been recently demonstrated to be in accordance with the Kibble-Zurek scenario for the cosmological analog. We discuss here the extension of the Kibble-Zurek scenario to the case when alternative symmetries may be broken and different states nucleated independently. We have calculated the nucleation probability of the various states of superfluid ${}^{3}\mathrm{He}$ during a superfluid transition. Our results can explain the transition from the supercooled $A$ phase to the $B$ phase triggered by a nuclear reaction. The new scenario is an alternative to the well-known ``baked Alaska'' scenario.
Source: Physical Review Letters
Authors: Yu. M. Bunkov, O. D. Timofeevskaya
Institution: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2014820740