Recent research findings are relevant to a model of matter
structure formation tiny fractions of a second after the Big Bang
Research groups at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU)
and the Physical-Technical Federal Institute (PTB) in Braunschweig, working in
collaboration with scientists at the University of Ulm and The Hebrew
University of Jerusalem, have been investigating the formation of defects
occurring when a Coulomb crystal of ions is driven through a second-order phase
transition. For this purpose, they compressed one-dimensional linear chains of
ions at high speeds to form a two-dimensional zigzag structure with a form
similar to that of an accordion. This process can lead to the generation of
defects in the resultant crystal structure. The probability of such defects
forming is determined by the speed of the phase transition. The Kibble-Zurek
mechanism, which describes the formation of such defects, is universal as it
plays an important role in many physical systems. Among other things, this
mechanism is the basis of one theory of how matter was created 10-30 seconds
after the Big Bang. The experiments undertaken in Mainz investigated and
analyzed this effect with a hitherto unrivalled precision.