Related papers: Fermionic zero modes on a toroidal cosmic string
We argue that having an odd number of Majorana fermion zero modes on a dynamical point-like soliton signifies an inconsistency in a theory with 3+1 and higher dimensions. We check this statement in a couple of examples in field theory and…
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 derive the zero mode solutions for a Majorana fermion in the background of a cosmic string and contrast it with the zero mode solution for a (neutral) Dirac fermion. A Majorana zero mode carries no vector or axial charge, and it cannot…
The influence on cosmic string dynamics of fermionic massive bound states propagating in the vortex, and getting their mass only from coupling to the string forming Higgs field, is studied. Such massive fermionic currents are numerically…
I examine the existence of zero energy fermion solutions (zero modes) on cosmic strings in an SO(10) grand unified theory. The current carrying capability of a cosmic string formed at one phase transition can be modified at subsequent phase…
Grand unified theories can admit cosmic strings with fermion zero modes. Such zero modes result in the string being current-carrying and the formation of stable remnants, vortons. However, the string zero modes do not automaticall survive…
The equation of state for a superconducting cosmic string whose current is due to fermionic zero modes is derived analytically in the case where the back-reaction of the fermions to the background is neglected. It is first shown that the…
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…
We provide a thorough exposition of recent results on the quantum stabilization of cosmic strings. Stabilization occurs through the coupling to a heavy fermion doublet in a reduced version of the standard model. The study combines the…
We study the spectrum of fermionic modes on cosmic string loops. We find no fermionic zero modes nor massive bound states - this implies that vortons stabilized by fermionic currents do not exist. We have also studied kink-(anti)kink and…
We analyze zero energy solutions of the Dirac equation in the background of a string-like configuration in an extension of the standard model which accommodates the most general fermionic mass matrix for neutrinos. If either the left- or…
We discuss massless and massive neutrino zero modes in the background of an electroweak string. We argue that the eventual absence of the neutrino zero mode implies the existence of topologically stable strings where the required…
The numbers of bosonic and fermionic zero modes of multi-pronged strings are counted in ${\cal N}=4$ super-Yang-Mills theory and compared with those of the IIB string theory. We obtain a nice agreement for the fermionic zero modes, while…
The stability of fermionic charge carriers on cosmic strings is considered. We show that neutral fermion currents in cosmic strings are always chiral or time-like, in contrast to the case of bosonic currents. The spectrum of bound states on…
The fermion-doubling problem can be an obstacle to getting half-a-qubit in two-dimensional fermionic tight-binding models in the form of Majorana zero modes bound to the core of superconducting vortices. We argue that the number of such…
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 study the quantum stabilization of a cosmic string by a heavy fermion doublet in a reduced version of the standard model. We show that charged strings, obtained by populating fermionic bound state levels, become stable if the…
We provide a thorough exposition, including technical and numerical details, of previously published results on the quantum stabilization of cosmic strings. Stabilization occurs through the coupling to a heavy fermion doublet in a reduced…
In the standard model, stabilization of a classically unstable cosmic string may occur through the quantum fluctuations of a heavy fermion doublet. We review numerical results from a semiclassical expansion in a reduced version of the…
The relevant characteristic features, including energy per unit length and tension, of a cosmic string carrying massless fermionic currents in the framework of the Witten model in the neutral limit are derived through quantization of the…