Related papers: Scaling properties of cosmological axion strings
We develop an analytic model to quantitatively describe the evolution of superconducting cosmic string networks. Specifically, we extend the velocity-dependent one-scale (VOS) model to incorporate arbitrary currents and charges on cosmic…
Axion-like particles may form a network of cosmic strings in the Universe today that can rotate the plane of polarization of cosmic microwave background (CMB) photons. Future CMB observations with improved sensitivity might detect this…
The cosmic string scenario in an open universe is developed -- including the equations of motion, a model of network evolution, the large angular scale CMB temperature anisotropy, and the power spectrum of density fluctuations produced by…
We present the results of a field theory simulation of networks of strings in the Abelian Higgs model. Starting from a random initial configuration we show that the resulting vortex tangle approaches a self-similar regime in which the…
Brane inflation in superstring theory predicts that cosmic strings (but not domain walls or monopoles) are produced towards the end of the inflationary epoch. Here, we discuss the production, the spectrum and the evolution of such cosmic…
We study the effects of friction on the scaling evolution of string networks in condensed matter and cosmological contexts. We derive a generalized `one-scale' model with the string correlation length $L$ and velocity $v$ as dynamical…
The post-inflationary Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry breaking scenario provides a unique opportunity to pinpoint the QCD axion dark matter mass, which is a crucial input for laboratory experiments that are designed for probing specific mass…
A cosmic string network created during an inflationary stage in the early Universe - here defined as i-string network - is expected to enter a transient stretching regime during inflation, in which its characteristic length is stretched to…
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…
We extend our earlier model of the small scale structure of cosmic string networks through an improved treatment of the separation of long and short scales. We find that the production of small loops (at the gravitational radiation scale)…
We describe the results of the largest and most accurate three-dimensional field theory simulations of domain wall networks with junctions. We consider a previously introduced class of models which, in the limit of large number $N$ of…
We perform the numerical field evolution for the collision of two Abelian type I cosmic strings. We present evidence that, for collisions at small but characteristic relative velocities and angles, these cosmic strings do not exchange ends…
It has been pointed out that cosmic string solutions can exist in gauge field theories with broken symmetry even when $\pi _1(G/H)$ is trivial. The stability of such semilocal defects is not guaranteed by topology and depends on dynamical…
We study the production of loops in the cosmic string network in the expanding background by means of a numerical simulation exact in the flat-spacetime limit and first-order in the expansion rate. We find an initial regime characterized by…
Flat directions are a generic feature of the scalar potential in supersymmetric gauge field theories. They can arise, for example, from D-terms associated with an extra abelian gauge symmetry. Even when supersymmetry is broken softly, there…
Numerical simulations of the evolution of a global topological defect field have two characteristic length scales --- one macrophysical, of order the field correlation length, and the other microphysical, of order the field width. The…
We apply a recently developed analytic model for the evolution of monopole networks to the case of monopoles attached to one string, usually known as hybrid networks. We discuss scaling solutions for both local and global hybrid networks,…
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…
Planck data have been used to provide stringent new constraints on cosmic strings and other defects. We describe forecasts of the CMB power spectrum induced by cosmic strings, calculating these from network models and simulations using…
We review the current status of axion cosmology in the light of recent work. We conclude that in the standard scenario, in which a global string network forms at the Peccei-Quinn phase transition, the largest contribution to the axion…