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. 
S. M. Griffin, M. Lilienblum, K. Delaney, Y. Kumagai, M. Fiebig and N.   A. Spaldin
cond-mat.mtrl-sci astro-ph.CO hep-th