Related papers: Microlensing by Cosmic Strings
Cosmic superstrings are produced towards the end of the brane inflation. If the string tension is low enough, loops tend to be relatively long-lived. The resultant string network is expected to contain many loops which are smaller than…
Cosmic superstring loops within the galaxy microlens background point sources lying close to the observer-string line of sight. For suitable alignments, multiple paths coexist and the (achromatic) flux enhancement is a factor of two. We…
The deep imaging of the field of an observed lensing event by a cosmic string reveals many additional lensing events. We study the statistics of such string lensing. We derive explicit expressions for the distributions of image separations…
Motivated by the recent claim for gravitational lensing by a cosmic string, we reinvestigate the probability of finding such an event with upcoming wide-field surveys. If an observed lensing event is suspected to be due to a string,…
We present a novel approach for investigating lens phenomenology of cosmic strings in order to elaborate detection strategies in galaxy deep field images. To account for the complexity of the projected energy distribution of string networks…
This paper presents an investigation into the gravitational microlensing of quasars by stars and stellar remnants in the Milky Way. We present predictions for the all-sky microlensing optical depth, time-scale distributions and event rates…
The existence of cosmic superstrings may be probed by astronomical time domain surveys. When crossing the line of sight to point-like sources, strings produce a distinctive microlensing signature. We consider two avenues to hunt for a relic…
The gravitational lensing by long, wiggly cosmic strings is shown to produce a large number of lensed images of a background source. In addition to pairs of images on either side of the string, a number of small images outline the string…
We show that the existence of cosmic strings can be strongly constrained by the next generation of gravitational lensing surveys at radio frequencies. We focus on cosmic string loops, which simulations suggest would be far more numerous…
The number of cosmic strings in the observable universe is relevant in determining the probability of detecting such cosmic defects through their gravitational signatures. In particular, we refer to the observation of gravitational lensing…
We constrain the cosmological density of cosmic string loops using two observational signatures -- gravitational microlensing and the Kaiser-Stebbins effect. Photometry from RXTE and CoRoT space missions and pulsar timing from Parkes Pulsar…
We consider the gravitational lensing produced by long cosmic strings formed in a GUT scale phase transition. We derive a formula for the deflection of photons which pass near the strings that reduces to an integral over the light cone…
We consider the femto-lensing due to a cosmic string. If a cosmic string with the deficit angle $\Delta\sim 100$ [femto-arcsec] $\sim10^{-18}$ [rad] exists around the line of sight to a gamma-ray burst, we may observe characteristic…
Gravitational microlensing is a powerful tool for probing the physical properties of quasar accretion disks and properties of the lens galaxy such as its dark matter fraction and mean stellar mass. Unfortunately the number of lensed quasars…
Cosmic strings are topological defects possibly formed in the early Universe, which may be observable due to their gravitational effects on the cosmic microwave background radiation or gravitational wave experiments. To this effect it is…
We showed that the part of strings could be detected by optical method is only 20% from the total available amount of such objects, therefore the gravitational lensing method has to be "completed" by CMB one. We found the general structure…
We put robust upper limits on the average cosmological density \Omega_s of cosmic strings based on the variability properties of a large homogeneous sample of SDSS quasars. We search for an excess of characteristic variations of quasar…
It has been suggested that cosmic strings produced at a phase transition in the early universe can be the origin of the extremely high energy cosmic rays (EHCR) observed by AGASA above 10^20 eV. Superheavy cosmic strings with linear mass…
We study the deflection of light in the background of a "wiggly" cosmic string, and investigate whether it is possible to detect cosmic strings by means of weak gravitational lensing. For straight strings without small-scale structure there…
By monitoring $10^6$ quasars one could search for lensing by stars and Massive Compact Halo Objects (Machos) out to redshifts $z\sim 4$. If Machos have a present cosmological density $\Omega_{L,0}=1\%$, then the expected event rate is…