Related papers: Global vs local cosmic strings from pseudo-anomalo…
A general prediction of string unification is the existence of exotic states with fractional charges under the free unbroken Abelian generators of the underlying GUT symmetry. Such states may be long-lived due to the existence of weakly…
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…
We develop a formalism for the quantization of topologically stable excitations in the 4-dimensional abelian lattice gauge theory. The excitations are global and local (Abrikosov-Nielsen-Olesen) strings and monopoles. The operators of…
In these lectures, I review the current status of cosmic strings and cosmic superstrings. I first discuss topological defects in the context of Grand Unified Theories, focusing in particular in cosmic strings arising as gauge theory…
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…
In this paper, following a stream of investigation on supersymmetric gauge theories with cosmic string solutions, we contemplate the possibility of building up a D-and-F term cosmic string by means of a gauge-field mixing in connection with…
We study the stability of supersymmetry breaking vacuum in the presence of cosmic strings arising in the messenger sector. For certain ranges of the couplings, the desired supersymmetry breaking vacua become unstable against decay into…
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…
We examine a non-Abelian SUSY $SU(2) \times U(1)$ gauge theory and a SUSY U(1) theory originally used to investigate the microphysics of cosmic strings in supersymmetric theories. We show that both theories automatically include hybrid…
We present the simplest possible model for a semi-local string defect in which a U(1) gauged subgroup of an otherwise global SU(2) is broken to produce local cosmic strings endowed with current-carrying properties. Restricting attention to…
We study the stability of superconducting strings in a U(1)_{local} x U(1)_{global} model coupled via a gauge field interaction term to U(1) Abelian-Higgs strings. The effect of the interaction on current stability is numerically…
A detailed analysis of anomalous U(1)'s and their effective couplings is performed both in field theory and string theory. It is motivated by the possible relevance of such couplings in particle physics, as well as a potential signal…
We examine the consequences of recent developments on Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) terms for D-term inflationary models. There is currently no known way to couple constant FI terms to supergravity consistently; only field-dependent FI terms are…
We consider F and D-term cosmic strings formed in supersymmetric theories. Supersymmetry is broken inside the string core, but restored outside. In global SUSY, this implies the existence of goldstino zero modes, and the string potentially…
We consider the low energy phenomenology of superstrings. In particular we analyse supersymmetry breaking via gaugino condensate and we compare the phenomenology of the two different approaches to stabilize the dilaton field. We study the…
We show that a cosmic string associated with spontaneous $U(1)_R$ symmetry breaking gives a constraint for supersymmetric model building. In some models, the string can be viewed as a tube-like domain wall with a winding number…
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…
Global topological defects produce nonzero stress-energy throughout spacetime, and as a result can have observable gravitational influence on surrounding matter. Gravitational effects of global strings are used to place bounds on their…
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…
The QCD axion with $f_a$ at an intermediate scale, 10**9-10**12 GeV, seems in conflict with the gravity spoil of global symmetries and may face the axionic domain wall problem. We point out that the string compactifications with an…