Topological defects, the unavoidable result of many symmetry-breaking phase transitions, can reveal the properties of many condensed matter systems, may be responsible for seeding the density perturbations that developed into galaxies, and are of interest to mathematicians as non-trivial solutions of nonlinear differential equations stabilized by topological effects. Students and practitioners in condensed matter physics, particle physics, and cosmology explore the similarities and differences in their approaches to such defects by discussing such aspects as the topological classification of defects, phase ordering dynamics, the geometry of defect scattering, and string network evolution. The 14 papers are from a workshop in Cambridge, England, August to September 1994. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.
