Related papers: Core Phase Structure of Cosmic Strings and Monopol…
We demonstrate that field theories involving explicit breaking of continous symmetries, incorporate two generic classes of topological defects each of which is stable for a particular range of parameters. The first class includes defects of…
In supersymmetric theories, topological defects can have nontrivial behaviors determined purely by whether or not supersymmetry is restored in the defect core. A well-known example of this is that some supersymmetric cosmic strings are…
In cosmological scenarios based on grand unification, string theory or braneworlds, many kinds of topological or non-topological defects, including monopoles and cosmic strings, are predicted to be formed in the early universe. Here we…
Topological defects, in particular cosmic strings, give rise to an interesting mechanism for generating the primordial perturbations in the early Universe which are required to explain the present structure. An overview of the cosmic string…
In this paper we will discuss how cosmic strings can be used to bridge the gap between the local geometry of our spacetime model and the global topology. The primary tool is the theory of foliations and surfaces, and together with…
Our understanding of the mechanism by which topological defects are formed in symmetry breaking phase transitions has recently changed. We examine the non-equilibrium dynamics of defect formation for weakly-coupled global O(N) theories…
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…
The influence of topological defects on phase synchronization and phase coherence in two-dimensional arrays of locally-coupled, nonidentical, chaotic oscillators is investigated. The motion of topological defects leads to a breakdown of…
The properties of cosmic strings have been investigated in detail for their implications in early-universe cosmology. Although many variations of the basic structure have been discovered, with implications for both the microscopic and…
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…
We illustrate a physical situation in which topological symmetry, its breakdown, space-time uncertainty principle, and background independence may play an important role in constructing and understanding matrix models. First, we show that…
We study topological defects with a general structure in higher-dimensional cosmological backgrounds described by a set of angle deficit parameters. As special cases, they include higher-dimensional generalizations of cosmic strings and…
In these lectures, I review cosmological phase transitions and the topological aspects of spontaneous symmetry breaking. I then discuss the formation of walls, strings and monopoles during phase transitions including lattice based studies…
We analyze the universal conformational properties of complex copolymer macromolecules, based on two topologies: the rosette structure containing $f_c$ linear branches and $f_r$ closed loops grafted to the central core, and the symmetric…
The final step of most large-scale structure analyses involves the comparison of power spectra or correlation functions to theoretical models. It is clear that the theoretical models have parameter dependence, but frequently the…
Cosmic strings are topological defects possibly formed in the early Universe, which may be observable due to their gravitational effects on the cosmic microwave background radiation or gravitational wave experiments. To this effect it is…
Domain walls, strings and monopoles are extended objects, or defects, of quantum origin with topologically non--trivial properties and macroscopic behavior. They are described in Quantum Field Theory in terms of inhomogeneous condensates.…
We classify potential cosmic strings according to the topological charge measurable outside the string core. We conjecture that in string theory it is this charge that governs the stability of long strings. This would imply that the SO(32)…
Topological phases protected by symmetry can occur in gapped and---surprisingly---in critical systems. We consider non-interacting fermions in one dimension with spinless time-reversal symmetry. It is known that the phases are classified by…
A topological phase is a phase of matter which cannot be characterized by a local order parameter. It has been shown that gapped phases in 1D systems can be completely characterized using tools related to projective representations of the…