Wave diffraction by a cosmic string
Abstract
We show that if a cosmic string exists, it may be identified through characteristic diffraction pattern in the energy spectrum of the observed signal. In particular, if the string is on the line of sight, the wave field is shown to fit the Cornu spiral. We suggest a simple procedure, based on Keller's geometrical theory of diffraction, which allows to explain wave effects in conical spacetime of a cosmic string in terms of interference of four characteristic rays. Our results are supposed to be valid for scalar massless waves, including gravitational waves, electromagnetic waves, or even sound in case of condensed matter systems with analogous topological defects.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1605.03176,
title = {Wave diffraction by a cosmic string},
author = {Isabel Fernández-Núñez and Oleg Bulashenko},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1605.03176},
year = {2016}
}
Comments
5 pages, 6 figures; free access to journal version until September 20, 2016 at http://authors.elsevier.com/a/1TTdX1LUy9BfYg