Evolution of Vortex Strings after a Thermal Quench in a Holographic Superfluid

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Xia, Chuan-Yin, Grabarits, András, Zeng, Hua-Bi, del Campo, Adolfo
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Xia, Chuan-Yin
Grabarits, András
Zeng, Hua-Bi
del Campo, Adolfo
author_facet Xia, Chuan-Yin
Grabarits, András
Zeng, Hua-Bi
del Campo, Adolfo
contents The formation of topological defects during continuous phase transitions exhibits nonequilibrium universality. While the Kibble-Zurek mechanism (KZM) predicts universal scaling of point-like defect numbers under slow driving, the statistical properties of extended defects remain largely unexplored across both slow and fast protocols. We investigate vortex string formation in a three-dimensional holographic superfluid. For slow quenches, the vortex string number follows KZM scaling, while for rapid quenches, it exhibits complementary universal scaling governed by the final temperature. Beyond the vortex string number, the loop-length distribution reveals a richer structure: individual loops follow the first-return statistics of three-dimensional random walks, $P(\ell) \sim \ell^{-5/2}$. While the total vortex length distribution remains Gaussian, its cumulants obey universal scaling laws with varying power-law exponents, and thus differ markedly from those observed in point-defect systems, indicating distinct statistical features of extended topological defects.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_14328
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Evolution of Vortex Strings after a Thermal Quench in a Holographic Superfluid
Xia, Chuan-Yin
Grabarits, András
Zeng, Hua-Bi
del Campo, Adolfo
High Energy Physics - Theory
Statistical Mechanics
Quantum Physics
The formation of topological defects during continuous phase transitions exhibits nonequilibrium universality. While the Kibble-Zurek mechanism (KZM) predicts universal scaling of point-like defect numbers under slow driving, the statistical properties of extended defects remain largely unexplored across both slow and fast protocols. We investigate vortex string formation in a three-dimensional holographic superfluid. For slow quenches, the vortex string number follows KZM scaling, while for rapid quenches, it exhibits complementary universal scaling governed by the final temperature. Beyond the vortex string number, the loop-length distribution reveals a richer structure: individual loops follow the first-return statistics of three-dimensional random walks, $P(\ell) \sim \ell^{-5/2}$. While the total vortex length distribution remains Gaussian, its cumulants obey universal scaling laws with varying power-law exponents, and thus differ markedly from those observed in point-defect systems, indicating distinct statistical features of extended topological defects.
title Evolution of Vortex Strings after a Thermal Quench in a Holographic Superfluid
topic High Energy Physics - Theory
Statistical Mechanics
Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.14328