Related papers: Cosmic F- and D-strings

There is evidence that string theory possesses a large discretuum of stable and/or metastable ground states, with zero or four supersymmetries in four dimensions. I discuss critically the nature of this evidence. Assuming this "landscape"…

We review the main results of our investigations motivated by the tadpole potentials of ten-dimensional strings with broken supersymmetry. While these are at best partial indications, it is hard to resist the feeling that they do capture…

Systems of interacting networks of strings such as cosmic strings or quantum vortices can be approximated in a certain regime as an anisotropic fluid with an equation of state depending on a conserved flux. The equations for ideal…

I will briefly review the formation and evolution of cosmic superstrings, in the context of brane-world cosmological models within M-theory. These objects can play the role of cosmic strings, offering a variety of astrophysical…

Chiral cosmic strings naturally arise in many particle physics models, in particular in supersymmetric theories with a D-term. These strings have a single fermion zero mode in the core. We derive the general equation of motion for such…

A novel mechanism for the production of a cosmic network of fundamental superstrings based on a time-varying string tension has been recently proposed in the context of a kinating background driven by the volume modulus of string…

The Standard Model is the low-energy limit of a microscopic theory which includes extra dimensions and new symmetries. A part of my thesis consisted in constructing a new class of models with two extra dimensions. We showed that these…

We consider a generalization of the Nielsen-Olesen ansatz, in an abelian-Higgs model with externally coupled charge, which describes strings with twisted magnetic flux lines in the vortex core. The solution does not possess cylindrical…

We briefly review three aspects of string cosmology: (1) the ``stochastic'' approach to the pre-big bang scenario, (2) the presence of chaos in the generic cosmological solutions of the tree-level low-energy effective actions coming out of…

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…

We present the properties of a cosmic superstring network in the scenario of flux compactification. An infinite family of strings, the (p,q)-strings, are allowed to exist. The flux compactification leads to a string tension that is periodic…

We study Dirac-Born-Infeld type effective field theory of a complex tachyon and U(1)$\times$U(1) gauge fields describing a D3${\bar {\rm D}}$3 system. Classical solutions of straight global and local DF-strings with quantized vorticity are…

We investigate the evolution of small perturbations around black strings and branes which are low energy solutions of string theory. For simplicity we focus attention on the zero charge case and show that there are unstable modes for a…

The dynamics of cosmic strings is considered in anisotropic backgrounds. In particular, the behaviour of infinitely long straight cosmic strings and of cosmic string loops is determined. Small perturbations of a straight cosmic string are…

In General Relativity, cosmic strings are well known to produce a static, locally flat spacetime with a wedge removed. If the tension exceeds a critical value, the deficit angle becomes larger than $ 2\pi $, leading to a compact exterior…

We discuss how cosmic strings can be created in heterotic M-theory compactifications with stable moduli. We conclude that the only appropriate candidates seem to be fundamental open membranes with a small length. In four dimensions they…

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…

Recently, the chiral superconductivity of the cosmic string in the axion model has gathered attention. The superconductive nature can alter the standard understanding of the cosmology of the axion model. For example, a string loop with a…

${\rm B - L}$ cosmic strings form in a wide class of theories beyond the Standard Model which contain a ${\rm U}(1)_{{\rm B - L}}$ gauge symmetry. They can form at the end of hybrid inflation and explain, together with inflation, the Cosmic…

We consider a toy cosmological model in string theory involving the winding and momentum modes of (m,n) strings, i.e. bound states of m fundamental and n D-strings. The model is invariant under S-duality provided that m and n are…