Related papers: High Harmonic Configurations of Cosmic Strings: An…
The collisions of cosmic strings loops and the dynamics of junctions formations in expanding backgrounds are studied. The key parameter controlling the dynamics of junctions formation, the cosmic strings zipping and unzipping is the…
Low-harmonic formulas for closed relativistic strings are given. General parametrizations are presented for the addition of second- and third-harmonic waves to the fundamental wave. The method of determination of the parametrizations is…
Based on a binary tree model for the self intersection of cosmic string loops containing high harmonics we estimate the number of self-intersections of the parent and daughter loops and the associated cusp production to determine the most…
Cosmic strings are linear concentrations of energy that form whenever phase transitions in the early universe break axial symmetries as originally shown by Kibble. They are the result of frustrated order in the quantum fields responsible…
Cosmic strings provide a radically different paradigm for the formation of structure to the prevailing inflationary one. They afford some extra technical complications: for example, the calculation of the power spectrum of matter and…
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,…
A new candidate source of gravitational radiation is described: the nearly-perfect harmonic series from individual loops of cosmic string. It is argued that theories with light cosmic strings give rise to a population of numerous long-lived…
We argue that cosmic strings with high winding numbers generally form in first-order gauge symmetry breaking phase transitions, and we demonstrate this using computer simulations. These strings are heavier than single-winding strings and…
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…
Complicated cosmic string loops will fragment until they reach simple, non-intersecting ("stable") configurations. Through extensive numerical study we characterize these attractor loop shapes including their length, velocity, kink, and…
In this thesis we describe high-harmonic cosmic string loops in a general relativistic context, and study the implications of high-harmonic content for the predicted gravitational wave signal from cosmic string networks. Initially, we…
In determining the gravitational signal of cusps from a network of cosmic strings loops, a number of key parameters have to be assumed. These include the typical number of cusps per period of string oscillation and the typical values of the…
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 theories with cosmic strings, a small fraction of string loops may collapse to form black holes. In this Letter, various constraints on such models involving black holes are considered. Hawking radiation from black holes, gamma and…
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 develop methods by which cosmic superstring interactions can be studied in detail. These include the reconnection probability and emission of radiation such as gravitons or small string loops. Loop corrections to these are discussed, as…
We study cosmic strings in the complex symmetron model, a scalar-tensor theory with a spontaneously broken local $U(1)$ symmetry in low matter density regions. Using numerical simulations, we show that these strings preferentially attach to…
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…
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…
Cosmic superstring loops generically contain strings of different tensions that meet at Y-junctions. These loops evolve non-periodically in time, and have cusps and kinks that interact with the junctions. We study the effect of junctions on…