Condensed Matter Physics as a laboratory for gravitation and Cosmology

The geometric language of General Relativity is not normally related to Condensed Matter (CM) Physics since it is the electromagnetic and not the gravitational interaction that dominates the physics of CM systems. What points in common would then CMP have with Cosmology and the dynamics of objects in a gravitational field? There is at least one that is very important: topological defects formed in symmetry breaking phase transitions. To explore the similarities and differences here has been a very fruitful experience for both sides. On one hand, topological defects in solids started to be desc...