title: Composite defect extends analogy between cosmology and 3He
abstract: Spin-mass vortices have been observed to form in rotating superfluid 3He-B, following the absorption of a thermal neutron and a rapid transition from the normal to the superfluid state. The spin-mass vortex is a composite defect which consists of a planar soliton (wall) which terminates on a linear core (string). This observation fits well within the framework of a cosmological scenario for defect formation, known as the Kibble-Zurek mechanism. It suggests that in the early Universe analogous cosmological defects might have formed.
authors.affiliation: Low Temperature Laboratory, Helsinki University of Technology, P.O. Box 2200, FIN-02015 HUT Espoo, Finland and Kapitza Institute for Physical Problems, Kosygina 2, 117334 Moscow, Russia.
authors.initials: VB
authors.lastname: Eltsov
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Kibble
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Krusius
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Ruutu
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Volovik