Speaker
Description
Cosmological phase transitions in the early universe can generate topological defects through the Kibble–Zurek mechanism. These defects are not only a generic consequence of nonequilibrium symmetry-breaking dynamics, but may also have profound implications for particle physics and cosmology. In particular, topological defects formed during a grand unified symmetry-breaking transition may catalyze baryon-number-violating processes, such as proton decay, through the Callan–Rubakov effect. This project aims to simulate the formation and dynamics of such defects and to investigate how defect-mediated processes may provide insight into unresolved mysteries of the early universe. By using modern simulation platforms, including quantum computing, this work seeks to open a new route to studying the physics of topological defects in the early universe that is otherwise difficult to access experimentally.