Related papers: Field theory simulation of Abelian-Higgs cosmic st…
We have simulated large-amplitude standing waves on an Abelian-Higgs cosmic string in classical lattice field theory. The radiation rate falls exponentially with wavelength, as one would expect from the field profile around a gauge string.…
We classify the possible shapes of cosmic string cusps and how they transform under Lorentz boosts. A generic cusp can be brought into a form in which the motion of the cusp tip lies in the plane of the cusp. The cusp whose motion is…
Constraints on the tension and the abundance of cosmic strings depend crucially on the rate at which they decay into particles and gravitational radiation. We study the decay of cosmic string loops in the Abelian-Higgs model by performing…
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…
Classical lattice simulations of the Abelian Higgs model are used to investigate small scale structure and loop distributions in cosmic string networks. Use of the field theory ensures that the small-scale physics is captured correctly. The…
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 study the evolution of Abelian-Higgs string networks in large-scale numerical simulations in both a static and expanding background. We measure the properties of the network by tracing the motion of the string cores, for the first time…
We re-visit the production of cosmic rays by cusps on cosmic strings. If a scalar field (``Higgs'') has a linear interaction with the string world-sheet, such as would occur if there is a bosonic condensate on the string, cusps on string…
We present the first fully general relativistic dynamical simulations of Abelian Higgs cosmic strings using 3+1D numerical relativity. Focusing on cosmic string loops, we show that they collapse due to their tension and can either (i)…
We present the results of computational gravitational backreaction on simple models of cosmic string loops. These results give us insight into the general behavior of cusps and kinks on loops, in addition to other features of evolution.…
We analyze the shapes of cosmic string loops found in large-scale simulations of an expanding-universe string network. The simulation does not include gravitational back reaction, but we model that process by smoothing the loop using…
Topological defects form at cosmological phase transitions by the Kibble mechanism, with cosmic strings and superstrings having the most interesting phenomenology. A rigorous analysis of their astrophysical consequences is limited by the…
We calculate the gravitational radiation from a cusp of the chiral cosmic strings as a function of the current on the string in the limit of small values of the current. The smoothing of the cosmic string cusp due to the presence of the…
We study the evolution of abelian-Higgs string networks in numerical simulations. These are compared against a modified velocity-dependent one scale model for cosmic string network evolution. This incorporates the contributions of loop…
We study Abelian strings in a fixed de Sitter background. We find that the gauge and Higgs fields extend smoothly across the cosmological horizon and that the string solutions have oscillating scalar fields outside the cosmological horizon…
A solenoid oscillating in vacuum will pair produce charged particles due to the Aharonov-Bohm (AB) interaction. We calculate the radiation pattern and power emitted for charged scalar particles. We extend the solenoid analysis to cosmic…
The time-dependent metric of a cosmic string leads to an effective interaction between the string and photons - the "gravitational Aharonov-Bohm" effect -- and causes cosmic strings to emit light. We evaluate the radiation of pairs of…
We investigate cosmic string networks in the Abelian Higgs model using data from a campaign of large-scale numerical simulations on lattices of up to $4096^3$ grid points. We observe scaling or self-similarity of the networks over a wide…
Whilst standard field theoretic Cosmic Strings cannot end, Cosmic Superstrings can form three string junctions, at which each string ends. This opens up a new class of possible boundary conditions for such strings and we show that, at least…
We study the geodesic motion of test particles in the space-time of two Abelian-Higgs strings interacting via their magnetic fields. These bound states of cosmic strings constitute a field theoretical realization of p-q-strings which are…