As a nonlinear optical system consisting of a Kerr medium inserted in a feedback loop is exposed to a light intensity growing linearly from below to above the threshold for pattern formation, the critical slowing down around threshold freezes the defect population. The measured number of defects immediately after the transition scales with the quench time as predicted by Zurek for a two-dimensional Ginzburg-Landau model. The further temporal evolution of the defect number is in agreement with a simple annihilation model, once the drift of defects specific for our system is taken into account.

• Received 26 July 1999

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.83.5210