Related papers: Cosmic Strings in Multi-Step Symmetry Breaking
Cosmic strings are predicted in many models beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. In models which admit strings, a network of strings will inevitably be formed in a phase transition in the early universe and will persist to the…
The intersection of string theory with cosmology is unavoidable in the early universe, and its exploration may shine light on both fields. In this thesis, three papers at this intersection are presented and reviewed, with the aim of…
If the Universe underwent a cosmic phase transition, it may have left behind a network of cosmic strings. When these strings arise from the breaking of a gauge symmetry, their decay produces a significant stochastic background of…
Cosmic strings can arise in hidden sector models with a spontaneously broken Abelian symmetry group. We have studied the couplings of the Standard Model fields to these so-called dark strings in the companion paper. Here we survey the…
We analyze the gravitational wave signatures of a network of metastable cosmic strings. We consider the case of cosmic string instability to breakage, with no primordial population of monopoles. This scenario is well motivated from GUT and…
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…
A realistic model of $SU(5) \times U(1)_{\chi}$, embedded in $SO(10)$ supersymmetric grand unified theory, is investigated for the emergence of a metastable cosmic string network. This network eventually decays via the Schwinger production…
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…
Cosmic (super)strings offer promising ways to test ideas about the early universe and physics at high energies. While in field theory constructions their tension is usually assumed to be constant (or at most slowly-varying), this is often…
We construct, in an SU(2) gauge theory with two adjoint scalars, flux strings with monopoles attached at the ends. One scalar breaks SU(2) to U(1) and produces monopoles, the other then breaks the U(1) and produces strings. Dualizing, we…
${\rm B - L}$ cosmic strings form in a wide class of theories beyond the Standard Model which contain a ${\rm U}(1)_{{\rm B - L}}$ gauge symmetry. They can form at the end of hybrid inflation and explain, together with inflation, the Cosmic…
We study string formation and dynamics in a scalar field theory with a global $U(1)$ symmetry. If a scalar field $\Phi$ is initially displaced from the minimum of a wine-bottle potential, even if uniformly over large spatial patches, small…
In the present thesis I studied the phenomenology arising from a class of string models called sequestered compactifications, which were born with the aim of getting low-energy SUSY from strings. This is not an easy task if combined with…
We describe the detailed study and results of high-resolution numerical simulations of string-induced structure formation in open universes and those with a non-zero cosmological constant. The effect from small loops generated from the…
We study the stability of supersymmetry breaking vacuum in the presence of cosmic strings arising in the messenger sector. For certain ranges of the couplings, the desired supersymmetry breaking vacua become unstable against decay into…
We examine a non-Abelian SUSY $SU(2) \times U(1)$ gauge theory and a SUSY U(1) theory originally used to investigate the microphysics of cosmic strings in supersymmetric theories. We show that both theories automatically include hybrid…
The symmetry breaking of grand unified gauge groups in the early Universe often leaves behind relic topological defects such as cosmic strings, domain walls, or monopoles. For some symmetry breaking chains, hybrid defects can form where…
We explore a variety of composite topological structures that arise from the spontaneous breaking of $SO(10)$ to $SU(3)_c \times U(1)_{em}$ via one of its maximal subgroups $SU(5) \times U(1)_\chi$, $SU(4)_c \times SU(2)_L \times SU(2)_R$,…
In these lectures I discuss the possibility that superstrings of cosmic length might exist and be observable. I first review the original idea of cosmic strings arising as gauge theory solitons, and discuss in particular their network…
Making use of the wealth of new observational data coming from the sky it is possible to constrain particle physics theories beyond the Standard Model. One way to do this is illustrated in this article: a subset of theories admits cosmic…