Related papers: Non-intercommuting Cosmic Strings
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…
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…
Cosmic strings with degrees of freedom beyond the standard Abrikosov-Nielsen-Olesen or Nambu-Goto strings are ubiquitous in field theory as well as in models with extra dimensions, such as string theoretic brane inflation scenarios. Here we…
We investigate the behaviour of a model with two oppositely charged scalar fields. In the Bogomol'nyi limit this may be seen as the scalar sector of N=1 supersymmetric QED, and it has been shown that cosmic strings form. We examine…
In a model that supports both Abelian (Abrikosov-Nielsen-Olesen) and non-Abelian strings we analyze the parameter space to find examples in which these strings not only coexist but are degenerate in tension. We prove that both solutions are…
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…
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 formation of cosmic strings by confining a stochastic magnetic field into flux tubes in a numerical simulation. We use overdamped evolution in a potential that is minimized when the flux through each face in the simulation…
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…
There has been recent interest in the evolution and cosmological consequences of global axionic string networks, and in particular in the issue of whether or not these networks reach the scale-invariant scaling solution that is known to…
In this paper we find new scaling laws for the evolution of $p$-brane networks in $N+1$-dimensional Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universes in the weakly-interacting limit, giving particular emphasis to the case of cosmic superstrings ($p=1$)…
In the context of a cosmological string model describing the propagation of strings in a time-dependent Robertson-Walker background space-time, we show that the asymptotic acceleration of the Universe can be identified with the square of…
Brane inflation in superstring theory ends when branes collide, initiating the hot big bang. Cosmic superstrings are produced during the brane collision. The cosmic superstrings produced in a D3-brane-antibrane inflationary scenario have a…
When gauged cosmic strings form in a symmetry-breaking phase transition, the gauge field configuration at the time becomes imprinted in the spatial string distribution by the flux trapping mechanism. It is shown that quantum and thermal…
Topological defects are a fossil relic of early Universe phase transitions, with cosmic strings being the best motivated example. While in most cases one studies Nambu-Goto or Abelian-Higgs strings, one also expects that cosmologically…
Non-Abelian global strings are expected to form during the chiral phase transition. They have orientational zero modes in the internal space, associated with the vector-like symmetry SU(N)_{L+R} broken in the presence of strings. The…
We analyze all individual cosmic strings of various lengths in a large ensemble of the global cosmic string networks in the post-inflationary scenario, obtained from numerical simulations on a discrete lattice with $N^3 = 4096^3$. A strong…
We consider the evolution of a network of strings in an expanding universe, allowing for the formation of junctions between strings of different tensions. By explicitly including, in the velocity-dependent evolution equations for the…
We study the structure of cosmic strings produced at the breaking of an anomalous U(1) gauge symmetry present in many superstring compactification models. We show that their coupling with the axion necessary in order to cancel the anomalies…
Understanding of the signatures of cosmic string networks is limited by a large uncertainty in the sizes at which cosmic string loops form. We review cosmic string network evolution, and the gravitational signatures, with emphasis on this…