Cosmological phase transition: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|A phase transition for the whole universe}}

A '''cosmological phase transition''' is a physical process, whereby the overall state of matter changes together across the whole universe. The success of the [[Big Bang]] model led researchers to conjecture possible cosmological phase transitions taking place in the very early universe, at a time when it was much hotter and denser than today.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Guth |first1=Alan H. |last2=Tye |first2=S.H. H. |title=Phase Transitions and Magnetic Monopole Production in the Very Early Universe |journal=Phys. Rev. Lett. |date=1980 |volume=44 |issue=10 |pages=631–635 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.44.631|bibcode=1980PhRvL..44..631G |osti=1447535 }}</ref><ref name="witten-1984">{{citeCite journal |last1last=Witten |first1first=Edward |date=1984-07-15 |title=Cosmic Separationseparation of Phasesphases |journalurl=Physhttps://link. Revaps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevD.30.272 |journal=Physical Review D |datelanguage=1984en |volume=30 |issue=32 |pages=272–285 |doi=10.1016/0550-3213(81)90182-6|bibcode=1981NuPhB.177..477W |doi=10.1103/PhysRevD.30.272 |issn=0556-2821}}</ref>

Any cosmological phase transition may have left signals which are observable today, even if it took place in the first moments after the Big Bang, when the universe was [[cosmic microwave background|opaque to light]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kibble |first1=T. W. B. |title=Some implications of a Cosmological Phase Transition |journal=Phys. Rep. |date=1980 |volume=67 |issue=1 |pages=183–199 |doi=10.1016/0370-1573(80)90091-5|bibcode=1980PhR....67..183K }}</ref>