From multiferroics to cosmology: Scaling behaviour and beyond in the
  hexagonal manganites
  We show that the improper ferroelectric phase transition in the multiferroic
hexagonal manganites displays the same symmetry-breaking characteristics as
those proposed in early-universe theories. We present an analysis of the
Kibble-Zurek theory of topological defect formation applied to the hexagonal
manganites, discuss the conditions determining the range of cooling rates in
which Kibble-Zurek behavior is expected, and show that recent literature data
are consistent with our predictions. We explore experimentally for the first
time to our knowledge the cross-over out of the Kibble-Zurek regime and find a
surprising "anti-Kibble-Zurek" behavior.
