Related papers: Cosmological effects of decaying cosmic string loo…
We numerically study the decay of cosmic global string loops due to radiation of Goldstone bosons and massive scalar ($\chi$) particles. The length of loops we study range from 200-1000 times the width of the string core. We find that the…
Cosmic strings are linear concentrations of energy that may be formed at phase transitions in the very early universe. At one time they were thought to provide a possible origin for the density inhomogeneities from which galaxies eventually…
The cosmological constant is an unexplained until now phenomena of nature that requires an explanation through string effects. The apparent discrepancy between theory and experiment is enourmous and has already been explained several times…
We extend the work done for cosmic strings on the perturbative calculation of vacuum polarization of a massless field in the space-time of multiple cosmic strings and show that for a more general class of locally flat metrics the one loop…
We critically assess the twin prospects of describing the observed universe in string theory, and using cosmological experiments to probe string theory. For the purposes of this short review, we focus on the limitations imposed by our…
Cosmic strings, topological defects predicted by high-energy theories, may contribute to the late-time expansion of the Universe, effectively mimicking dynamical dark energy. We investigate four phenomenological extensions of the…
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…
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…
Cosmic electrons with energies in the TeV range lose their energy rapidly through synchrotron radiation and inverse Compton processes, resulting in a relatively short lifetime (~ 10^5 years). They are only visible from comparatively nearby…
The origin and nature of ultrahigh-energy cosmic ray events, above the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin (GZK) cutoff energy, constitute a long-standing, unsolved mistery. Neutrinos are proposed candidates but their standard interactions with matter…
Exact solutions of the Einstein field equations with cosmic string and space varying cosmological constant, viz., $\Lambda= \Lambda(r)$, in the energy-momentum tensors are presented. Three cases have been studied: where variable…
We study the cosmic microwave background temperature and polarisation spectra sourced by multi-tension cosmic superstring networks. First we obtain solutions for the characteristic length scales and velocities associated with the evolution…
Cosmological constraints on moduli, whose coupling to matter is stronger than Planck mass suppressed coupling, are derived. In particular, moduli are considered to be produced by oscillating loops of cosmic strings and constraints are…
The initial data of the gravitational field produced by a loop thick string is considered. We show that a thick loop is not a geodesic on the initial hypersurface, while a loop conical singularity is. This suggests that there is the ``{\it…
We present results from a detailed numerical study of the small-scale and loop production properties of cosmic string networks, based on the largest and highest resolution string simulations to date. We investigate the non-trivial fractal…
This is a short account, based on a talk given at the 2024 Moriond Cosmology Conference, of where and why string theory matters in early universe cosmology. It is written for a cosmology audience predisposed to be at best sceptical, and at…
We discuss some hitherto puzzling features of the small-scale structure of cosmic strings. We argue that kinks play a key role, and that an important quantity to study is their sharpness distribution. In particular we suggest that for very…
Many symmetry breaking patterns in grand unified theories (GUTs) give rise to cosmic strings that eventually decay when pairs of GUT monopoles spontaneously nucleate along the string cores. These strings are known as metastable cosmic…
We comment on the relation between string theory and empirical science, grounding our discussion in cosmology, a subject with increasingly precise data in which this connection operates at several levels. It is important to take into…
Recent work suggests that fundamental and Dirichlet strings, and their (p,q) bound states, may be observed as cosmic strings. The evolution of cosmic string networks, and therefore their observational signals, depends on what happens when…