Related papers: Monopoles on strings
The topic of cosmic strings provides a bridge between the physics of the very small and the very large. They are predicted by some unified theories of particle interactions. If they exist, they may help to explain some of the largest-scale…
Cosmic strings, a hot subject in the 1980's and early 1990's, lost its appeal when it was found that it leads to inconsistencies in the power spectrum of the measured cosmic microwave background temperature anisotropies. However,…
Cosmic strings are predicted by many field-theory models, and may have been formed at a symmetry-breaking transition early in the history of the universe, such as that associated with grand unification. They could have important…
A sequence of two symmetry breaking transitions in the early universe may produce monopoles whose flux is confined into two strings each, which thus assemble into "necklaces" with monopoles as beads. Such "cosmic necklaces" have been…
Cosmic strings are one-dimensional topological defects which could have been formed in the early stages of our Universe. They triggered a lot of interest, mainly for their cosmological implications: they could offer an alternative to…
In these lectures, I review the current status of cosmic strings and cosmic superstrings. I first discuss topological defects in the context of Grand Unified Theories, focusing in particular in cosmic strings arising as gauge theory…
Topological defects, in particular cosmic strings, give rise to an interesting mechanism for generating the primordial perturbations in the early Universe which are required to explain the present structure. An overview of the cosmic string…
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 review applications of string theory to cosmology, from primordial times to the present-day accelerated expansion. Starting with a brief overview of cosmology and string compactifications, we discuss in detail moduli stabilisation,…
Previously developed analytic models for the evolution of cosmic string and monopole networks are applied to networks of monopoles attached to two or more strings; the former case is usually known as cosmic necklaces. These networks are a…
When the topology of the universe is non trivial, it has been shown that there are constraints on the network of domain walls, cosmic strings and monopoles. I generalize these results to textures and study the cosmological implications of…
We perform the first numerical simulations of necklaces in a non-Abelian gauge theory. Necklaces are composite classical solutions which can be interpreted as monopoles trapped on strings, rather generic structures in a Grand Unified…
Domain walls, strings and monopoles are extended objects, or defects, of quantum origin with topologically non--trivial properties and macroscopic behavior. They are described in Quantum Field Theory in terms of inhomogeneous condensates.…
Cosmic strings in the brane Universe have recently gained a great interest. I think the most interesting story is that future cosmological observations distinguish them from the conventional cosmic strings. If the strings are 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…
We present the properties of a cosmic superstring network in the scenario of flux compactification. An infinite family of strings, the (p,q)-strings, are allowed to exist. The flux compactification leads to a string tension that is periodic…
We perform numerical simulations of cosmic necklaces (systems of monopoles connected to two strings each) and investigate the conditions under which monopoles annihilate. When the total monopole energy is large compared to the string…
We consider string theory in a time dependent orbifold with a null singularity. The singularity separates a contracting universe from an expanding universe, thus constituting a big crunch followed by a big bang. We quantize the theory both…
Cosmic strings are topological defects which can be formed as a result of phase transitions with a spontaneous symmetry breaking in the early Universe. The possibility of the generation of a magnetic field around a cosmic string on the…
The string-dominated universe locally resembles an open universe, and fits dynamical measures of power spectra, cluster abundances, redshift distortions, lensing constraints, luminosity and angular diameter distance relations and microwave…