Related papers: Friction Domination with Superconducting Strings
We study the behaviour and consequences of cosmic string networks in contracting universes. They approximately behave during the collapse phase as a radiation fluids. Scaling solutions describing this are derived and tested against…
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 discuss the appearance of superconducting strings in $E_6$ grand unification, keeping track of the magnetic monopole flux that precedes the formation of the string flux tube. This flux matching ensures compatibility with the quantum…
We describe a new mechanism, whose ingredients are realised in string compactifications, for the formation of cosmic (super)string networks. Oscillating string loops grow when their tension $\mu$ decreases with time. If $2H + \dot{\mu}/\mu…
This is a broad-brush review of how string theory addresses several important questions of gravitational physics. The problem of non-renormalizability is first reviewed, followed by introduction of string theory as an ultraviolet-finite…
Cosmic strings in realistic particle physics models have fermion zero modes in the string core. Such zero modes change the underlying cosmology; for example, the string can carry a current. We consider the stability of fermion zero modes to…
We investigate some classical aspects of fundamental strings via numerical experiments. In particular, we study the thermodynamics of a string network within a toroidal universe, as a function of string energy density and space…
We consider F-strings with arbitrary configurations in the Minkowski directions of a higher-dimensional spacetime, which also wrap and spin around $S^1$ subcycles of constant radius in an arbitrary internal manifold, and determine the…
I report recent studies on the evolution of perturbations in the context of the ``pre-big-bang" scenario typical of string cosmology, with emphasis on the formation of a stochastic background of relic photons and gravitons, and its possible…
The electronic transport of a noninteracting quantum ring side-coupled to a quantum wire is studied via a single-band tunneling tight-binding Hamiltonian. We found that the system develops an oscillating band with antiresonances and…
We calculate the fluctuations in the current and energy densities for the case of a quantized, minimally coupled, massless, complex scalar field around a straight and infinitesimally thin cosmic string carrying magnetic flux. At zero…
Large field excursions are required in a number of axion models of inflation. These models also possess global cosmic strings, around which the axion follows a path mirroring the inflationary trajectory. Cosmic strings are thus an…
It has recently been realised that strings with time-dependent tensions exhibit interesting dynamics; in particular, when the tension decreases loops of string can grow and possibly percolate. We extend previous analytic studies of strings…
In string bit models, the superstring emerges as a very long chain of "bits", in which s fermionic degrees of freedom contribute positively to the ground state energy in a way to exactly cancel the destabilizing negative contributions of…
We study the behaviour of cosmic string networks in contracting universes, and discuss some of their possible consequences. We note that there is a fundamental time asymmetry between defect network evolution for an expanding universe and a…
Beginning with a review of the arguments leading to the so-called c=1 barrier in the continuum formulation of noncritical string theory, the pathology is then exhibited in a discretized version of the theory, formulated through dynamical…
The Stochastic Gravitational Wave Background (SGWB) from cosmic superstrings offers one of the few known possibilities to test String Theory within current experimental reach. However, in order to be compatible with the existing…
In this review, a number of approaches to superstring cosmology which make use of key features which distinguish string theory from point particle theories are discussed, with particular emphasis on emergent scenarios. One motivation for…
I use a combination of state-of-the-art numerical simulations and analytic modelling to discuss the scaling properties of cosmic defect networks, including superstrings. Particular attention is given to the role of extra degrees of freedom…
We study the cosmological evolution of domain walls bounded by strings which arise naturally in axion models. If we introduce a bias in the potential, walls become metastable and finally disappear. We perform two dimensional lattice…