We study the inclusion of point and string matter in the deSitter gauge theory, or MacDowell-Mansouri formulation of four dimensional gravity. We proceed by locally breaking the gauge symmetries of general relativity along worldlines and worldsheets embedded in the spacetime manifold. Restoring full gauge invariance introduces new dynamical fields which describe the dynamics of spinning matter coupled to gravity. We discuss the physical interpretation of the obtained formalism by studying the flat limit and the spinless case on arbitrary backgrounds. It turns out that the worldline action describes a massive spinning particle, while the worldsheet action contains the Nambu-Goto string augmented with spinning contributions. Finally, we study the gravity/matter variational problem and conclude by discussing potential applications of the formalism to the inclusion of the Nambu-Goto string in spinfoam models of four dimensional quantum gravity.
Cosmic strings, as topological spacetime defects, show striking resemblance to defects in solid continua: distortions, which can be classified into disclinations and dislocations, are line-like defects characterized by a delta function-valued curvature and torsion distribution giving rise to rotational and translational holonomy. We exploit this analogy and investigate how distortions can be adapted in a systematic manner from solid state systems to Einstein-Cartan gravity. As distortions are efficiently described within the framework of a $SO(3) {\rlap{$\supset$}\times}} T(3)$ gauge theory of…
We consider scattering of elastic waves on parallel wedge dislocations in the geometric theory of defects or, equivalently, scattering of point particles and light rays on cosmic strings. Dislocations are described as torsion singularities located on parallel lines, and trajectories of phonons are assumed to be the corresponding extremals. Extremals are found for arbitrary distribution of the dislocations in the monopole, dipole, and quadrupole approximation and the scattering angle is obtained. Examples of continuous distribution of wedge and edge dislocations are considered. We have found th…
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 abundance. The minimum separation between global strings is estimated by considering the defects' contribution to the cosmological energy density. More rigorous constraints on the abundance of global strings are constructed by examining the tidal forces such defects will have on observable astrophysical systems. The small number of observed tidally disrup…
Few years ago, Cho and Vilenkin have proposed that topological defects can arise in symmetry breaking models without having degenerate vacua. These types of defects are known as vacuumless defects. In the present work, the gravitational field of a vacuumless global string and global monopole have been investigated in the context of Lyra geometry. We find the metric of the vacuumless global string and global monopole in the weak field approximations. It has been shown that the vacuumless global string can have repulsive whereas global monopole exerts attractive gravitational effects on a test p…
A conical topological defect is the result of translational and/or rotational deformations of spacetime, in particular the Burgers vector describes the translational deformation. Such a configuration represents a discontinuity, that cannot be removed by coordinate transformations, and is related to the spacetime torsion. Using the Teleparallel Equivalent of General Relativity (TERG), a gravitational theory that is dynamically equivalent to General Relativity (GR), we investigate the consequences of assuming a discrete Burgers vector on the geodesic motion of particles around a static conical d…
Using a new geometrical approach introduced by Gibbons and Werner we study the deflection angle by Reissner-Nordström black holes in the background spacetimes with a global monopole and a cosmic string. By calculating the corresponding optical Gaussian curvature and applying the Gauss-Bonnet theorem to the optical metric we find the leading terms of the deflection angle in the weak limit approximation. We find that the deflection angle increases due to the presence of topological defects.
The energy density of asymptotically flat gravitational fields can be calculated from a simple expression involving the trace of the torsion tensor. Integration of this energy density over the whole space yields the ADM energy. Such expression can be justified within the framework of the teleparallel equivalent of general relativity, which is an alternative geometrical formulation of Einstein's general relativity. In this paper we apply this energy density to the evaluation of the energy per unit length of a class of conical defects of topological nature, which include disclinations and disloc…
We consider a hydrogen atom in the background spacetimes generated by an infinitely thin cosmic string and by a point-like global monopole. In both cases, we find the solutions of the corresponding Dirac equations and we determine the energy levels of the atom. We investigate how the geometric and topological features of these spacetimes leads to shifts in the energy levels as compared with the flat Minkowski spacetime.
Monopole-antimonopole pairs connected by strings can be formed as topological defects in a sequence of cosmological phase transitions. Such hybrid defects typically decay early in the history of the universe but can still generate an observable background of gravitational waves. We study the spectrum of gravitational radiation from these objects both analytically and numerically, concentrating on the simplest case of an oscillating pair connected by a straight string.
We consider strings with the Nambu action as extremal surfaces in a given space-time, thus, we ignore their back reaction. Especially, we look for strings sharing one symmetry with the underlying space-time. If this is a non-null symmetry, the problem of determining the motion of the string can be dimensionally reduced. We get exact solutions for the following cases: straight and circle-like strings in a Friedmann background, straight strings in an anisotropic Kasner background, different types of strings in the metric of a gravitational wave. The solutions will be discussed.
There exist various defect-brane backgrounds in supergravity theories which arise as the low energy limit of string theories. These backgrounds typically have non-trivial monodromies, and if we move a charged probe around the center of a defect, its charge will be changed by the action of the monodromy. During the process, the charge conservation law seems to be violated. In this paper, to resolve this puzzle, we examine a dynamics of the charge changing process and show that the missing charge of the probe is transferred to the background. We then explicitly construct the resultant background…
We study the effect of internal space rotation on the gravitational properties of infinite straight and stationary cosmic string. From the approximate solution of Einsten equations for the spinning Q-lump string we obtain long range gravitational accelleration resembling that of a rotating massive cylindrical shell. We also compute the angular velocity of the inertial frame dragging and the angle of light deflection by the Q-lump string. Matter accretion on to spinning strings can play a role in galaxy formation when the angular velocity times the string width is comparable to the speed of lig…
Gravitational and massless particle radiation of straight cosmic strings with finite thickness is studied analytically. It is found that the non-linear interaction of the radiation fields emitted by a cosmic string with the ones of the string always makes the spacetime singular at the symmetry axis. The singularity is not removable and is a scalar one.
The Euclidean action is calculated in the thin-wall approximation for a first-order vacuum phase transition in which the bubble appears symmetrically around either a global monopole or a gauge cosmic string. The bubble is assumed to be much larger than the core size of the monopole or string. In both cases the value of the Euclidean action is shown to be reduced below the $O(4)$ symmetric action value, indicating that the topological defects act as effective nucleation sites for vacuum decay.
We analyze the effective action describing the linearised gravitational self-action for a classical superconducting string in a curved spacetime. It is shown that the divergent part of the effective action is equal to zero for the both Nambu-Goto and chiral superconducting string.
This work is devoted to the study of tensor gauge fields on a string-like defect in six dimensions. This model is very successful in localizing fields of various spins only by gravitational interaction. Due to problems of field localization in membrane models we are motivated to investigate if a string-like defect localizes the Kalb-Ramond field. In contrast to what happens in Randall-Sundrum and thick brane scenarios we find a localized zero mode without the addition of other fields in the bulk. Considering the local string defect we obtain analytical solutions for the massive modes. Also, we…
Cobalt nanoparticle-based ferrofluid in the presence of external magnetic field forms a self-assembled hyperbolic metamaterial. Wave equation describing propagation of extraordinary light inside the ferrofluid exhibits 2+1 dimensional Lorentz symmetry. The role of time in the corresponding effective 3D Minkowski spacetime is played by the spatial coordinate directed along the periodic nanoparticle chains aligned by the magnetic field. Here we present a microscopic study of point, linear, planar and volume defects of the nanoparticle chain structure and demonstrate that they may exhibit strong …
It is shown that an infinite gravitational flux tube solution in 5D Kaluza-Klein gravity with the cross section in the Planck region after $5D \to 4D$ reduction and isometrical embedding in a Minkowski spacetime can be considered as a moving infinite string-like object. Such object has a flux of the electric and magnetic fields. The 4D gravitational waves on the tube are considered.
The spontaneous loss of angular momentum of a spinning cosmic string due to particle emission is discussed. The rate of particle production between two assymptotic spacetimes: the spinning cosmic string spacetime in the infinite past and a non-spinning cosmic string spacetime in the infinite future is calculated.
The gravitational interaction of an infinitely long cosmic string with a Schwarzschild black hole is studied. We consider a straight string that is initially at a great distance and moving at some initial velocity v (0 < v < c) towards the black hole. The equations of motion of the string are solved numerically to obtain the dependence of the capture impact parameter on the initial velocity.
We investigate the spectrum of stochastic gravitational wave background generated by hybrid topological defects: domain walls bounded by strings and monopoles connected by strings. Such defects typically decay early in the history of the universe, and their mass scale is not subject to the constraints imposed by microwave background and millisecond pulsar observations. Nonetheless, the intensity of the gravitational wave background from hybrid defects can be quite high at frequencies above $10^{-8} Hz$, and in particular in the frequency range of LIGO, VIRGO and LISA detectors.
We give a prescription to add the gravitational field of a global topological defect to a solution of Einstein's equations in an arbitrary number of dimensions. We only demand that the original solution has a O(n) invariance with n greater or equal 3. We will see that the general effect of a global defect is to introduce a deficit solid angle. We also show how the same kind of scalar field configurations can be used for spontaneous compactification of "n" extra dimensions on an n-sphere.
Scaling networks of cosmic defects, such as strings and textures, actively generate scalar, vector and tensor metric perturbations throughout the history of the universe. In particular, {\em vector} modes sourced by defects are an efficient source of the CMB B-mode polarization. We use the recently released BICEP2 and POLARBEAR B-mode polarization spectra to constrain properties of a wide range of different types of cosmic strings networks. We find that in order for strings to provide a satisfactory fit on their own, the effective inter-string distance needs to be extremely large -- spectra th…
We consider non-linear plane gravitational waves as propagating space-time defects, and construct the Burgers vector of the waves. In the context of classical continuum systems, the Burgers vector is a measure of the deformation of the medium, and at a microscopic (atomic) scale, it is a naturally quantized object. One purpose of the present article is ultimately to probe an alternative way on how to quantize plane gravitational waves.
In this contribution, some solutions of the Klein-Gordon equation in the Gödel-type metrics with an embedded cosmic string are considered. The quantum dynamics of a scalar particle in three spaces whose metric is described by different classes of Gödel solution, with a cosmic string passing through the spaces, is found. The energy levels and eigenfunctions of the Klein-Gordon operator are obtained. We show that these eigenvalues and eigenfunctions depend on the parameter characterizing the presence of a cosmic string in the space-time. We note that the presence of topological defects breaks th…
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 important to quantitatively ascertain the network properties, including their density, velocity or the number of strings present, at the various epochs in the observable Universe. Attempts to estimate these numbers often rely on simplistic approximations for the string parameters, such as assuming that the network is scaling. However, in cosmological models co…
The gravitational field of monopoles, cosmic strings and domain walls is studied in the quadratic gravitational theory $R+αR^2$ with $α|R|\ll 1$, and is compared with the result in Einstein's theory. The metric aquires modifications which correspond to a short range `Newtonian' potential for gauge cosmic strings, gauge monopoles and domain walls and to a long range one for global monopoles and global cosmic strings. In this theory the corrections turn out to be attractive for all the defects. We explain, however, that the sign of these corrections in general depends on the particular higher or…
We study the perturbative dynamics of an infinite gravitating Nambu-Goto string within the general-relativistic perturbation framework. We develop the gauge invariant metric perturbation on a spacetime containing a self-gravitating straight string with a finite thickness and solve the linearized Einstein equation. In the thin string case, we show that the string does not emit gravitational waves by its free oscillation in the first order with respect to its oscillation amplitude, nevertheless the string actually bends when the incidental gravitational waves go through it.
A general relativistic solution, composed of a Zel'dovich-Letelier interior made of radial strings matched through a spherical thin shell at radius $r_0$ to an exterior Schwarzschild solution with mass $m$, is presented. It is the Zel'dovich-Letelier-Schwarzschild star. When the radius $r_0$ of the star is shrunk to its gravitational radius $2m$, the solutions have interesting properties. There are solutions with $m=0$ and $r_0=0$ that obey $\frac{2m}{r_0}=1$. The solutions have a horizon, but are not black holes, they are quasiblack holes, though atypical. The proper mass $m_p$ of the interio…
We study the gravitational radiation from a rotating monopole-antimonopole pair connected by a string. While at not too high frequencies the emitted gravitational spectrum is described asymptotically by $P_n\propto n^{-1}$, the spectrum is exponentially suppressed in the high-frequency limit, $P_n\propto \exp(-n/n_{\rm cr})$. Below $n_{\rm cr}$, the emitted spectrum of gravitational waves is very similar to the case of an oscillating monopole pair connected by a string, and we argue therefore that the spectrum found holds approximately for any moving monopole-string system. As application, we …
It has been recently shown that topological defects can arise in symmetry breaking models where the scalar field potential $V(ϕ)$ has no minima and is a monotonically decreasing function of $|ϕ|$. Here we study the gravitational fields produced by such vacuumless defects in the cases of both global and gauge symmetry breaking. We find that a global monopole has a strongly repulsive gravitational field, and its spacetime has an event horizon similar to that in de Sitter space. A gauge monopole spacetime is essentially that of a magnetically charged black hole. The gravitational field of a globa…
Gravitational wave signatures from cosmic strings are analyzed numerically. Cosmic string networks form during phase transistions in the early universe and these networks of long cosmic strings break into loops that radiate energy in the form of gravitational waves until they decay. The gravitational waves come in the form of harmonic modes from individual string loops, a "confusion noise" from galactic loops, and a stochastic background of gravitational waves from a network of loops. In this study string loops of larger size $α$ and lower string tensions $Gμ$ (where $μ$ is the mass per unit l…
In this paper we analyze one-loop quantum effects of a scalar field induced by a composite topological defect consisting a cosmic string on a p-dimensional brane and a (m+1)-dimensional global monopole in the transverse extra dimensions. The corresponding Green function is presented as a sum of two terms. The first one corresponds to the bulk where the cosmic string is absent and the second one is induced by the presence of the string. For the points away from the cores of the topological defects the latter is finite in the coincidence limit and is used for the evaluation of the vacuum expecta…
The interplay of dilatonic effects in dilaton cosmology and stochastic quantum space-time defects within the framework of string/brane cosmologies is examined. The Boltzmann equation describes the physics of thermal dark-matter-relic abundances in the presence of rolling dilatons. These dilatons affect the coupling of stringy matter to D-particle defects, which are generic in string theory. This coupling leads to an additional source term in the Boltzmann equation. The techniques of asymptotic matching and boundary-layer theory, which were recently applied by two of the authors (CMB and SS) to…
I present a class of objects called gravitational strings (GS) for their similarity to the conventional cosmic strings: even though the former are just singularities in flat spacetime, both varieties are equally "realistic", they may play equally important cosmological rôle and their lensing properties are akin. I argue that the enigmatic object CSL-1 is an evidence in favor of the existence of GS.
Ultrahigh-energy string scattering is investigated to clarify the relative role of string and gravitational effects, and their possible contributions to nonlocal behavior. Different regimes can be characterized by varying the impact parameter at fixed energy. In the regime where momentum transfers reach the string scale, string effects appear subdominant to higher-loop gravitational processes, approximated via the eikonal. At smaller impact parameters, "diffractive" or "tidal" string excitation leads to processes dominated by highly excited strings. However, new evidence is presented that thes…
More accurate gravitational wave backgrounds from cosmic strings
Wentworth Institute of Technology（温特沃斯理工学院）；Tufts University（塔夫茨大学）；IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science（伊克尔巴斯科，巴斯克科学基金会）；University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU（巴斯克地区大学）
We review the construction of a particular soliton-type solution of the classical Einstein and matter-field equations. This localized finite-energy static classical solution can be interpreted as a single spacetime defect embedded in Minkowski spacetime and may give rise to several new effects. For a Skyrme-type theory with small enough matter-field energy scale compared to the Planck energy scale and for a sufficiently small defect length scale, the existence of a globally regular solution requires a negative active gravitational mass, so that the defect repels a distant test particle ("antig…
We make an attempt to dynamically study, in four space-time dimensions, the classical gravitational collapse of a macroscopic circular fundamental string, by a truncation of the Einstein equations that suppresses retarded features but keeps the main self-gravity peculiarities of the relativistic string dynamics, and allows the investigation of a possible infinite red-shift. The numerical solution of the string evolution in the self-induced metric shows an infinite red shift at a macroscopic size of the string, when the string reaches the velocity of light. We further include the back-reaction …
Cosmological inflation and topological defects have been considered for a long time, either in disagreement or in competition. On the one hand an inflationary era is required to solve the shortcomings of the hot big bang model, while on the other hand cosmic strings and string-like objects are predicted to be formed in the early universe. Thus, one has to find ways so that both can coexist. I discuss how to reconcile cosmological inflation with cosmic strings.
The formalism for computing the gravitational power radiation from excitations on cosmic strings forming a junction is presented and applied to the simple case of co-planar strings at a junction when the excitations are generated along one string leg. The effects of polarization of the excitations and of the back-reaction of the gravitational radiation on the small scale structure of the strings are studied.
Starting from microscopic models of space-time foam, based on brane universes propagating in bulk space-times populated by D0-brane defects ("D-particles"), we arrive at effective actions used by a low-energy observer on the brane world to describe his/her observations of the Universe. These actions include, apart from the metric tensor field, also scalar (dilaton) and vector fields, the latter describing the interactions of low-energy matter on the brane world with the recoiling point-like space-time defect (D-particle). The vector field is proportional to the recoil velocity of the D-particl…
Gravitational waves emitted by kinks on infinite strings are investigated using detailed estimations of the kink distribution on infinite strings. We find that gravitational waves from kinks can be detected by future pulsar timing experiments such as SKA for an appropriate value of the the string tension, if the typical size of string loops is much smaller than the horizon at their formation. Moreover, the gravitational wave spectrum depends on the thermal history of the Universe and hence it can be used as a probe into the early evolution of the Universe.
We investigate the behavior of classical closed strings in a gravitational wave burst and discover an intriguing resonant behavior where the energy absorbed by the strings is crucially dependent on the amplitude and frequency of the gravitational wave. This behavior can be traced to the well-known behavior of the solutions to the Mathieu equation.
The observable parameters of the electron indicate unambiguously that its gravitational background should be the Kerr-Newman solution without horizons. This background is not flat and has a non-trivial topology created by the Kerr singular ring. This ring was identified with a closed gravitational string. We discuss the relation of this string to the closed heterotic string of the low energy string theory and show that traveling waves along the KN string give rise to the Dirac theory of electron. Gravitational strings form a bridge between gravity and quantum theory, indicating a new way to co…
The unique, conical spacetime created by cosmic strings brings about distinctive gravitational lensing phenomena. The variety of these distinctive phenomena is increased when the strings have non-trivial mutual interactions. In particular, when strings bind and create junctions, rather than intercommute, the resulting configurations can lead to novel gravitational lensing patterns. In this brief note, we use exact solutions to characterize these phenomena, the detection of which would be strong evidence for the existence of complex cosmic string networks of the kind predicted by string theory-…
We study gravitational waves in the black string Randall-Sundrum braneworld. We present a reasonably self-contained and complete derivation of the equations governing the evolution of gravitational perturbations in the presence of a brane localized source, and then specialize to the case of spherical radiation from a pointlike body in orbit around the black string. We solve for the resulting gravitational waveform numerically for a number of different orbital parameters.
A characteristic spectrum of relic gravitational radiation is produced by a period of ``stringy inflation" in the early universe. This spectrum is unusual, because the energy-density rises rapidly with frequency. We show that correlation experiments with the two gravitational wave detectors being built for the Laser Interferometric Gravitational Observatory (LIGO) could detect this relic radiation, for certain ranges of the parameters that characterize the underlying string cosmology model.
We present a new type of gravitational mass defect in which an infinite amount of matter may be bounded in a zero ADM mass. This interpolates between effects typical of closed worlds and T-spheres. We consider the Tolman model of dust distribution and show that this phenomenon reveals itself for a solution that has no origin on one side but is closed on the other side. The second class of examples corresponds to smooth gluing T-spheres to the portion of the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker solution. The procedure is generalized to combinations of smoothly connected T-spheres, FRW and Schwarzschild m…
String cosmology models predict a stochastic cosmic background of gravitational waves with a characteristic spectrum. I describe the background, present astrophysical and cosmological bounds on it, and outline how it may be possible to detect it with gravitational wave detectors.
We discuss various issues related to stabilized embedded strings in a thermal background. In particular, we demonstrate that such strings will generically become superconducting at moderately low temperatures, thus enhancing their stability. We then present a new class of defects - drum vortons - which arise when a small symmetry breaking term is added to the potential. We display these points within the context of the O(4) sigma model, relevant for hadrodynamics below the QCD scale. This model admits `embedded defects' (topological defect configurations of a simpler - in this case O(2) symmet…
A spectrum of relic stochastic gravitational radiation, strongly tilted towards high frequencies, and characterized by two basic parameters is shown to emerge in a class of string theory models. We estimate the required sensitivity for detection of the predicted gravitational radiation and show that a region of our parameter space is within reach for some of the plannedgravitational-wave detectors.
We point out that the results by Brandenberger et al. in Phys.Rev.D77:083502(2008) that the geometry around the straight cosmic strings with stationary junctions is flat to linear order in the string tension can be immediately extended to any order.
A large class of string-cosmology backgrounds leads to a spectrum of relic stochastic gravitational waves, strongly tilted towards high frequencies, and characterized by two basic parameters of the cosmological model. We estimate the required sensitivity for detection of the predicted gravitational radiation and show that a region of our parameter space is within reach for some of the planned gravitational-wave detectors.
Pre--big bang models of inflation based on string cosmology produce a stochastic gravitational wave background whose spectrum grows with decreasing wavelength, and which may be detectable using interferometers such as LIGO. We point out that the gravitational wave spectrum is closely tied to the density perturbation spectrum, and that the condition for producing observable gravitational waves is very similar to that for producing an observable density of primordial black holes. Detection of both would provide strong support to the string cosmology scenario.
We discuss the possible dynamical role of extended cosmic defects on galactic scales, specifically focusing on the possibility that they may provide the dark matter suggested by the classical problem of galactic rotation curves. We emphasize that the more standard defects (such as Goto-Nambu strings) are unsuitable for this task, but show that more general models (such as transonic wiggly strings) could in principle have a better chance. In any case, we show that observational data severely restricts any such scenarios.
We show that the parametric resonance of gravitational waves occurs due to the axion coherent oscillation and the circular polarization of gravitational waves is induced by the Chern-Simons coupling. However, we have never observed these signatures in the data of gravitational waves. Using this fact, we give stringent constraints on the Chern-Simons coupling constant $\ell$ and the abundance of the light string axion. In particular, we improved the current bound $\ell\leq10^{8}\,\,{\rm km}$ by many orders of magnitude.
Understanding of the signatures of cosmic string networks is limited by a large uncertainty in the sizes at which cosmic string loops form. We review cosmic string network evolution, and the gravitational signatures, with emphasis on this uncertainty. We then review a recent analytic model of cosmic string networks. In combination with recent simulations, this suggests that 90% of the string goes into very small loops, at the gravitational radiation scale, and 10% into loops near the Hubble scale. We discuss cosmic string signatures in such a scenario, and the `inverse problem' of determining …
We use our model of the small scale structure on cosmic strings to develop further the result of Siemens, Olum, and Vilenkin that the gravitational radiation length scale on cosmic strings is smaller than the previously assumed $ΓGμt$. We discuss some of the properties of cosmic string loops at this cutoff scale, and we argue that recent network simulations point to two populations of cosmic string loops, one near the horizon scale and one near the gravitational radiation cutoff.
