Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
We investigate the dynamics of second-order phase transitions in two dimensions, breaking a gauged U (1) symmetry. Using numerical simulations, we show that the density of the topological defects formed scales with the quench time scale ₐ as nₐ^-1/2 when the dynamics is overdamped at the instant when the freeze-out of thermal fluctuations takes place, and nₐ^-2/3 in the underdamped case. This is predicted by the scenario proposed by one of us (W. H. Z. ).
Yates et al. (Mon,) studied this question.