Defect formation: Experimental Cosmology

Arttu Rajantie

Department of Applied Mathematics & Theoretical Physics (DAMTP)
University of Cambridge, UK

Phase transitions that took place in the early universe were in many ways very similar to those in more accessible systems such as liquid crystals, superfluids and superconductors.
This analogy can be used to test certain cosmological theories experimentally. In this talk, I will explain what the formation of topological defects at these phase transitions can tell us about cosmology.