Related papers: Quantum stabilization of a hedgehog type of cosmic…
Metastable cosmic strings provide a minimal and predictive origin for the stochastic gravitational-wave background reported by Pulsar Timing Array experiments. We analyse this possibility in electroweak-like dark sectors with a single-stage…
We review the notion of the Higgs effect in the context of string theory. We find that by including this effect in time dependent backgrounds, one is led to a natural mechanism for stabilizing moduli at points of enhanced gauge symmetry. We…
A solution of the standard electroweak theory with a single lepton family is constructed, consisting of a cosmic string and a fermion condensate within its core. The stability of this system to small perturbations is examined, and it is…
We consider a generalization of the Nielsen-Olesen ansatz, in an abelian-Higgs model with externally coupled charge, which describes strings with twisted magnetic flux lines in the vortex core. The solution does not possess cylindrical…
We make use of the formalism described in a previous paper [Martins {\it et al.} Phys. Rev. D90 (2014) 043518] to address general features of wiggly cosmic string evolution. In particular, we highlight the important role played by poorly…
We modify the standard Abelian-Higgs model by introducing spatially-dependent couplings for the scalar and vector fields. We investigate static, non-cylindrically symmetric solutions of the resulting field equations and propose a pinch…
We begin the study of a class of string-motivated effective supergravity theories in light of current data from the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The case of heterotic string theory, in which the dilaton is stabilized via…
The discovery of Standard-Model like Higgs at 125 GeV may raise more questions than the answers it provides. In particular, the hierarchy problem remains unsolved, and the Standard Model Higgs quartic self-coupling becomes negative below…
The main challenge faced by Higgsless models of electroweak symmetry breaking is to reconcile the experimental constraints imposed by the precision electroweak data and the top quark phenomenology with the unitarity constraints imposed by…
The cosmological Higgs vacuum stability has been an attractive research subject and it is crucial to accurately follow the development of the Higgs fluctuations. In this work, we thoroughly investigate how the vacuum fluctuations of the…
We review recent progress in the computation of leading quantum corrections to the energies of classical solitons with topological structure, including multi-soliton models in one space dimension and string configurations in three space…
We consider a quenched SU(2)$\times$U(1) gauge Higgs theory on the lattice, coupled to a static vector-like fermion which, in this case, is in the same gauge group representation as the Higgs field. Physical (i.e. locally gauge invariant)…
Within two specific string cosmology scenarios --differing in the way the pre- and post-big bang phases are joined-- we compute the size and spectral slope of various types of cosmologically amplified quantum fluctuations that arise in…
We investigate some consequences of a specific non-conservation of the energy-momentum tensor on the physics of certain cosmic string configurations. This non-conservation is induced by a new gravitational theory recently introduced as an…
I report on recent numerical simulations of the simplest field theory with cosmic string solutions, the Abelian Higgs model. We find that random networks of string quickly converge to a scaling solution in which the network scale length…
We investigate the stability of the electroweak Z-string at high temperatures. Our results show that while finite temperature corrections can improve the stability of the Z-string, their effect is not strong enough to stabilize the Z-string…
In the Standard Model, the difference between the baryon number $B$ and the lepton number $L$ is conserved, which represents a symmetry that is global and exact, and therefore unnatural. We turn it into a naturally exact, local symmetry by…
In this paper we show how quantum corrections, although perturbatively small, may play an important role in the analysis of the existence of some classical models. This, in fact, appears to be the case of static, uniform--density models of…
We study the classical cosmic string solution in a theory with dynamical $U(1)$ symmetry breaking. We calculate the energy per unit length of the string and compare it to that obtained in a model with a fundamental Higgs. We find that the…
The equation of state for a superconducting cosmic string whose current is due to fermionic zero modes is derived analytically in the case where the back-reaction of the fermions to the background is neglected. It is first shown that the…