Coordinators: Grigory Volovik (LTL) and Tom Kibble (Imperial College, London, UK)
Funding: ESF, Physical and Engineering Sciences
Duration: 1.7. 2001 - 30.6. 2006
Participants: 14 groups from European universities and research institutes in 12 countries.
Condensed matter systems at low temperatures and the universe, evolving after the "Big Bang", have many analogies. The aim of this programme is to exploit these analogies through studies of ultra-low-temperature superfluid helium and of other condensed-matter systems, such as atomic Bose condensates, superconductors, Josephson junction arrays and liquid crystals, together with theoretical work to establish the validity of the analogy. The required sensitivity demands the most sophisticated apparatus, in particular state-of-the-art cryogenic equipment.
A COSLAB workshop on Turbulence and Vacuum Instability in Condensed Matter and Cosmology was held in Lammi, Finland, August 17-22, 2004.