Vortex Production in a First Order Phase-Transition at Finite Temperature

Abstract

We simulate the production of vortices in a first order phase transition at finite temperature. The transition is carried out by randomly nucleating critical bubbles and the effects of thermal fluctuations (which could be relevant for vortex production) are represented by randomly nucleating subcritical bubbles. Our results show that the presence of subcritical bubbles suppresses vortices with clear and prominent profiles, though net number of vortices is consistent with theoretical estimates. We also determine the typical speed of vortices arising due to randomness associated with the phase transition to be about 0.5.

Comments: 10 pages, in LATEX, 6 figures (not included)