Related papers: Introduction to Cosmic F- and D-Strings
At its very beginning, the universe is believed to have grown exponentially in size via the mechanism of inflation. The almost scale-invariant density perturbation spectrum predicted by inflation is strongly supported by cosmological…
Recent developments in string theory suggest that cosmic strings could be formed at the end of brane inflation. Supergravity provides a realistic model to study the properties of strings arising in brane inflation. Whilst the properties of…
Cosmic strings are generically predicted in many extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics. We propose a new avenue for detecting cosmic strings through their effect on the filamentary structure in the cosmic web. Using…
This article, written for Scolarpedia, provides a brief introduction into the subject of cosmic strings, together with a review of their main properties, cosmological evolution and observational signatures.
We study the formation and evolution of an interconnected string network in large-scale field-theory numerical simulations, both in flat spacetime and in expanding universe. The network consists of gauge U(1) strings of two different kinds…
It is pointed out that various types of cosmic string solutions that exist in nonsupersymmetric and globally supersymmetric theories, such as D-type gauge strings, F-type global and gauge strings, and superconducting Witten strings, also…
The number of cosmic strings in the observable universe is relevant in determining the probability of detecting such cosmic defects through their gravitational signatures. In particular, we refer to the observation of gravitational lensing…
Making use of the wealth of new observational data coming from the sky it is possible to constrain particle physics theories beyond the Standard Model. One way to do this is illustrated in this article: a subset of theories admits cosmic…
This is a short account, based on a talk given at the 2024 Moriond Cosmology Conference, of where and why string theory matters in early universe cosmology. It is written for a cosmology audience predisposed to be at best sceptical, and at…
We study the cosmic microwave background temperature and polarisation spectra sourced by multi-tension cosmic superstring networks. First we obtain solutions for the characteristic length scales and velocities associated with the evolution…
There are two main reasons for the recent renewal of interest in cosmic strings: Fundamental string-theory models suggest their existence; and there are at least two tentative observations of their possible effects. In this talk, I review…
The theory of cosmological perturbations is the main tool which connects theories of the early universe (based on new fundamental physics such as string theory) with cosmological observations. In these lectures, I will provide an…
Towards the end of the brane inflationary epoch in the brane world, cosmic strings (but not texture, domain walls or monopoles) are copiously produced during brane collision. These cosmic strings are D$p$-branes with $(p-1)$ dimensions…
We motivate the study of chiral cosmic strings through a scenario of structure formation which mixes D-term inflation and strings. We then discuss some properties of chiral cosmic strings, and results regarding their evolution and possible…
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…
Two strands of observational gravitation, one the search for astrophysical evidence of primordial black holes and the other the search for gravitational waves, may combine to provide strong evidence in favour of cosmological models based on…
Recent developments in string inspired models of inflation suggest that D-strings are formed at the end of inflation. Within the supergravity model of D-strings there are 2(n-1) chiral fermion zero modes for a D-string of winding n. Using…
We describe cosmic D--term strings as D3 branes wrapped on a resolved conifold. The matter content that gives rise to D--term strings is shown to describe the world--volume theory of a space--filling D3 brane transverse to the conifold…
We review the current observational status of string cosmology when confronted with experimental datasets. We begin by defining common observational parameters and discuss how they are determined for a given model. Then we review the…
We investigate a static, cylindrically symmetric cosmic string on the brane without a perturbative approximation. We find there could be a (large) enhancement of the (effective) string tension when the energy density at the center of the…