Universal Statistics of Vortices in a Newborn Holographic Superconductor: Beyond the Kibble-Zurek Mechanism

TL;DR

This paper explores the universal statistical properties of vortices formed during a thermal quench in a holographic superconductor, revealing deviations from the Kibble-Zurek mechanism and identifying universal distributions for vortex fluctuations.

Contribution

It uncovers the full counting statistics of vortices beyond KZM, showing a binomial distribution with universal scaling and Weibull distribution for extreme fluctuations.

Findings

Vortex count follows a binomial distribution with mean from KZM.

Higher-order cumulants scale universally with quench time.

Extreme events follow a Weibull distribution, deviating from power-law behavior.

Abstract

Traversing a continuous phase transition at a finite rate leads to the breakdown of adiabatic dynamics and the formation of topological defects, as predicted by the celebrated Kibble-Zurek mechanism (KZM). We investigate universal signatures beyond the KZM, by characterizing the distribution of vortices generated in a thermal quench leading to the formation of a holographic superconductor. The full counting statistics of vortices is described by a binomial distribution, in which the mean value is dictated by the KZM and higher-order cumulants share the universal power-law scaling with the quench time. Extreme events associated with large fluctuations no longer exhibit a power-law behavior with the quench time and are characterized by a universal form of the Weibull distribution for different quench rates.