Andrew J. Long, Lian-Tao Wang
We study the production of ultra-light dark photons from a network of near-global, Abelian-Higgs cosmic strings. We find that dark photons produced in this way are nonrelativistic today and can make up all of the dark matter for dark photon masses as small as $m_A \sim 10^{-22} \, \mathrm{eV}$.
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We discuss and summarise the predictions of a model for the non-equilibrium evolution of a network of cosmic strings initially containing {\em only loops} and {\em no infinite strings}. The results are of interest given recent work highlighting the problems with structure formation from the standard cosmic string scenario.
String unification at a scale of a few tens of TeV explains the existence of cosmic ray interactions beyond the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin (GZK) cutoff. Trans-GZK cosmic rays are neutrinos which can penetrate the cosmic microwave background. In interactions with atmospheric nuclei they have sufficient energy for exciting string modes. We present a model for the description of such interactions and discuss the properties of the resulting extensive air showers. Presently available data on trans-GZK cosmic rays suggest a string scale around 80 TeV.
In the present work we discuss cosmic strings in natural inflation. Our analysis is based entirely on the CMB quadrupole temperature anisotropy and on the existing upper bound on the cosmic string tension. Our results show that the allowed range for both parameters of the inflationary model is very different from the range obtained recently if cosmic strings are formed at the same time with inflation, while if strings are formed after inflation we find that the parameters of the inflationary model are similar to the ones obtained recently.
In this thesis we investigate the microphysics of cosmic strings in non-minimal quantum field theories. In particular we consider theories in which fermion fields couple to the strings, and those with larger symmetry groups, such as grand unified and supersymmetric theories. By considering these extensions to the minimal model, we obtain a more realistic picture of the properties of cosmic strings.
Gravitational field of cosmic strings in theories with extra spatial dimensions must differ significantly from that in the Einstein's theory. This means that all gravity induced properties of cosmic strings need to be revised too. Here we consider the effect of vacuum polarization outside a straight infinitely thin cosmic string embedded in a RS2 brane world. Perturbation technique combined with the method of dimensional regularization is used to calculate ${< T_μ^ν >}_{vac}^{ren}$ for a massless scalar field.
In this talk, I will discuss the mechanism of nonthermal production of the neutralino cold dark matter from the decay of cosmic strings and the embedded defects, the $π$ and $η^\prime$ strings in the strong interaction sector of the standard model.
Superconducting cosmic strings may be viewed as wires of thickness $1/Λ$ with $Λ=10^{16}$ TeV. We show that the weak interactions will spread out the current to distances $r= (1/M_Z)\ln (I/M_Z)$, where $I$ is the magnitude of the current in the string. Consequences for the scattering of light by these strings is presented.
We derive analytic expressions for the interaction energy between two general $U(1)$ cosmic strings as the function of their relative orientation and the ratio of the coupling constants in the model. The results are relevant to the statistic description of strings away from critical coupling and shed some light on the mechanisms involved in string formation and the evolution of string networks.
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 transitions. I show that the zero modes may be destroyed and the conductivity of the string altered. I discuss the cosmological implications of this, and show that it allows vorton bounds to be relaxed.
More Scalings from Cosmic Strings
本文在 $N^3 = 4096^3$ 格子模拟中分析了暴胀后全局宇宙弦网络，报告了宇宙弦功率谱对数增长谱指数的强有力证据，推导了宇宙弦与轴子功率谱的解析关系，并启动了宇宙弦因果动力学的统计分析。
The deep imaging of the field of an observed lensing event by a cosmic string reveals many additional lensing events. We study the statistics of such string lensing. We derive explicit expressions for the distributions of image separations of lensing by a cosmic string and point out that they are quite sensitive to parameters which characterize the cosmic string, such as the redshift and tension of the cosmic string. Thus the statistics of string lensing events add new important information on the cosmic string which cannot be obtained from the detailed investigation of one lensing event.
It has been speculated that cosmic string networks could produce ultra-high energy cosmic rays as a by-product of their evolution. By making use of recent work on the evolution of such networks, it will be shown that the flux of cosmic rays from cosmologically useful, that is GUT scale strings, is too small to be used as a test for strings with any foreseeable technology.
The relation between shapes of cosmic string and baryon number violation is investigated. If there exist fermionic zero modes on the string, using bosonization technique, it is possible to obtain the effective action which describes the fermion coupled to the arbitrarily shaped cosmic string. The relation between baryon number and the sum of the writhing number and linking number of the cosmic strings is rederived. Baryons are created on the strings as the shapes of the cosmic strings change. Furthermore we discuss implications of this baryon number violating process to baryogenesis.
It is shown that brane world gravity produces an attractive force between cosmic strings, in contrast to conventional Einstein gravity. This force is sufficient for stable bound states of Type II strings (which normally repel each other) to form. There is a small separation between the strings, giving them a rope-like structure. At astronomical scales these `cosmic ropes' resemble higher winding number strings, and so all brane world cosmic strings are effectively Type I.
Using an analytical model for the string network we show that the kurtosis of cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature gradient maps is a good statistic to distinguish between the cosmic string model and inflationary models of structure formation. The difference between the stringy and inflationary value for the kurtosis is inversely proportional to the angular resolution and to the number of strings per Hubble volume of the strings' scaling solution. If strings are indeed responsible for CMB anisotropies then experiments with resolutions of a couple of arcminutes or smaller could determi…
The order of magnitude of energy emission from cusps to light bosons on ordinary cosmic strings is calculated perturbatively. The analysis is applicable to both closed string loops and long cosmic strings. The perturbative result obtained here is much less than what is found by non-perturbative approximations.
A class of well-motivated models of inflation end by producing cosmic strings. The current status of efforts to calculate and observe the signals from such models are outlined, with a particular emphasis on cosmic strings, and on the Cosmic Microwave Background signal.
The cosmological features of primordial black holes formed from collapsed cosmic string loops are studied. Observational restrictions on a population of primordial black holes are used to restrict $f$, the fraction of cosmic string loops which collapse to form black holes, and $μ$, the cosmic string mass-per-unit-length. Using a realistic model of cosmic strings, we find the strongest restriction on the parameters $f$ and $μ$ is due to the energy density in $100 MeV$ photons radiated by the black holes. We also find that inert black hole remnants cannot serve as the dark matter. If earlier, cr…
We study how the presence of world-sheet currents affects the evolution of cosmic string networks, and their impact on predictions for the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies generated by these networks. We provide a general description of string networks with currents and explicitly investigate in detail two physically motivated examples: wiggly and superconducting cosmic string networks. By using a modified version of the CMBact code, we show quantitatively how the relevant network parameters in both of these cases influence the predicted CMB signal. Our analysis suggests that pre…
In supersymmetric theories, cosmic strings produced in the early Universe often have a width of TeV scale, while the tension is much larger. In a scaling regime, an infinite cosmic string releases significant fraction of its energy in the form of string loops. These thick string loops lose their energies efficiently by particle emissions, and hence it may have effects on cosmological observations. We study cosmological implications of string loops with TeV scale width in detail and derive constraints on the tension of the string. Implications on future gravitational wave detectors are also dis…
We discuss the cosmological evolution of cosmic strings with time-dependent tension. We show that, in the case that the tension changes as a power of time, the cosmic string network obeys the scaling solution: the characteristic scale of the string network grows with the time. But due to the time dependence of the tension, the ratio of the energy density of infinite strings to that of the background universe is {\it not} necessarily constant.
Based on the mechanism of cusp production on long cosmic strings, the baryon asymmetry caused by cusp annihilation has been calculated. The result is compatible with observation and stronger than the results from loops.
We compare the anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background radiation measured by the COBE experiment to the predictions of cosmic strings. We use an analytic model for the $ΔT/T$ power spectrum that is based on our previous numerical simulations to show that the COBE results imply a value for the string mass per unit length, $μ$ under the assumption that cosmic strings are the source of the measured anisotropy. We find $Gμ= 1.5\pm 0.5 \times 10^{-6}$ which is consistent with the value of $μ$ thought to be required for cosmic strings to seed galaxy formation.
Chiral cosmic strings are produced naturally at the end of inflation in supersymmetric models where the symmetry is broken via a D-term. Consequently in such theories, where both inflation and cosmic strings contribute to the density and CMBR (microwave background) perturbations, it is necessary to understand the evolution of chiral cosmic string networks. We study the dynamics of chiral cosmic strings in Minkowski space and comment on a number of differences with those of Nambu-Goto strings. To do this we follow the work of Carter and Peter who showed that the equations of motion for chiral c…
We re-visit the production of cosmic rays by cusps on cosmic strings. If a scalar field (``Higgs'') has a linear interaction with the string world-sheet, such as would occur if there is a bosonic condensate on the string, cusps on string loops emit narrow beams of very high energy Higgses which then decay to give a flux of ultra high energy cosmic rays. The ultra-high energy flux and the gamma to proton ratio agree with observations if the string scale is $\sim 10^{13}$ GeV. The diffuse gamma ray and proton fluxes are well below current bounds. Strings that are {\it lighter} and have linear in…
Cosmic string loops contain cusps which decay by emitting bursts of particles. A significant fraction of the released energy is in the form of photons. These photons are injected non-thermally and can hence cause spectral distortions of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). Under the assumption that cusps are robust against gravitational back-reaction, we compute the fractional energy density released as photons in the redshift interval where such non-thermal photon injection causes CMB spectral distortions. Whereas current constraints on such spectral distortions are not strong enough to con…
We apply the concept of helicity from classical hydrodynamics to elucidate two problematical issues in cosmic string physics. Helicity, the space integral of the scalar product of a velocity-like field with its vorticity field (curl), can be defined for a complex scalar field in analogy with fluids. We dwell on the topological interpretation of helicity as related to the linking of field lines of the vorticity field. Earlier works failed to fully implement this interpretation for cosmic strings by missing a term connected with the linking of these lines inside the strings. As a result paradoxi…
We consider a toroidal configuration of cosmic string in 3+1 dimensions in an abelian Higgs model, a compactification of the Nielsen-Olesen string. This object is classically unstable. We explicitly compute the number of permitted zero modes for majorana fermions coupled to such a string. As in the case of indefinitely long strings, there are |n| zero modes for winding number sector n, and correspondingly, induced fermionic charge n/2 which canbe fractional. According to a previously proved result, this implies quantum mechanical stability for objects with odd winding number. The result is 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 solitons. I discuss the reconciliation between cosmic strings and cosmological inflation, I review cosmic string dynamics, cosmic string thermodynamics and cosmic string gravity, which leads to a number of interesting observational signatures. I then proceed with the notion of cosmic superstrings arising at the end of brane inflation, within the context of brane-wo…
We introduce a new technique to detect the discrete temperature steps that cosmic strings might have left in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy map. The technique provides a validity test on the pattern search of cosmic strings that could serve as the groundwork for future pattern searches. The detecting power of the technique is only constrained by two unavoidable features of CMB data: (1) the finite pixelization of the sky map and (2) the Gaussian fluctuation from instrumental noise and primordial anisotropy. We set the upper limit on the cosmic string parameter as $Gμ\lesssim …
We investigate cosmological evolution and implications of cosmic strings with time-dependent tension. We derive basic equations of time development of the correlation length and the velocity of such strings, based on the one scale model. Then, we find that, in the case where the tension depends on some power of the cosmic time, cosmic strings with time-dependent tension goes into the scaling solution if the power is lower than a critical value. We also discuss cosmic microwave background anisotropy and matter power spectra produced by these strings. The constraints on their tensions from the W…
We study stabilization of an unstable cosmic string associated with spontaneously broken $U(1)_R$ symmetry, which otherwise causes a dangerous roll-over process. We demonstrate that in a gauge mediation model, messengers can receive enough corrections from the thermal plasma of the supersymmetric standard model particles to stabilize the unstable modes of the string.
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 …
Cosmic strings produce charged particles which, by emitting electromagnetic radiation, partially ionize neutral hydrogen during the dark ages. Corrections to the ionization fraction of neutral hydrogen induced by cosmic strings could lead to new observational effects and/or new constraints on the string tension around $Gμ\sim 10^{-16} - 10^{-22}$ for values of the primordial magnetic field in the range $B_0 \sim 10^{-11}-10^{-9}$ Gauss.
The topological defect scenario of origin of the observed highest energy cosmic rays is reviewed. Under a variety of circumstances, topological defects formed in the early Universe can be sources of very massive particles in the Universe today. The decay products of these massive particles may be responsible for the observed highest energy cosmic ray particles above $10^{20}$ eV. Some massive particle production processes involving cosmic strings and magnetic monopoles are discussed. We also discuss the implications of results of certain recent numerical simulations of evolution of cosmic stri…
We study diffusion damping of acoustic waves in the photon-baryon fluid due to cosmic strings, and calculate the induced $μ$- and $y$-type spectral distortions of the cosmic microwave background. For cosmic strings with tension within current bounds, their contribution to the spectral distortions is subdominant compared to the distortions from primordial density perturbations.
We investigate the microphysics of supersymmetric cosmic strings. In particular we focus on the vortices admitted by N=1 supersymmetric abelian Higgs models. We find the vortex solutions and demonstrate that the two simplest supersymmetric cosmic string models admit fermionic superconductivity. Further, by using supersymmetry transformations, we show how to solve for the fermion zero modes giving rise to string superconductivity in terms of the background string fields.
We examine a Nambu-Goto string trajectory in the neighbourhood of a cusp and determine the extrinsic curvature invariants. These are demonstrated to be finite, in contradiction with naive expectation. Thus the Nambu action is a valid approximation for the motion of a cosmic string vortex even at cusps. This suggests that cusp annihilation is not a feasible mechanism for particle radiation from cosmic strings.
We compare the spectrum of the stochastic gravitational wave background produced in several models of cosmic strings with the common-spectrum process recently reported by NANOGrav. We discuss theoretical uncertainties in computing such a background, and show that despite such uncertainties, cosmic strings remain a good explanation for the potential signal, but the consequences for cosmic string parameters depend on the model. Superstrings could also explain the signal, but only in a restricted parameter space where their network behavior is effectively identical to that of ordinary cosmic stri…
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 compactified. We elaborate on this prediction of the superstring theory description of the brane world. Using the data on the temperature anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background, we estimate the cosmic string tension $μ$ to be around $G μ\simeq 10^{-7}$. This in turn implies that the anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background comes mostly from inflation…
Electromagnetic radiation from superconducting cosmic string loops can reionize neutral hydrogen in the universe at very early epochs, and affect the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature and polarization correlation functions at large angular scales. We constrain the string tension and current using WMAP7 data, and compare with earlier constraints that employed CMB spectral distortions. Over a wide range of string tensions, the current on the string has to be less than 10^7 GeV.
We investigate cosmic sparks from cusps on superconducting cosmic strings in light of the recently discovered millisecond radio burst by Lorimer et al [1]. We find that the observed duration, fluence, spectrum, and event rate can be reasonably explained by Grand Unification scale superconducting cosmic strings that carry currents \sim 10^5 GeV. The superconducting string model predicts an event rate that falls off only as S^{-1/2}, where S is the energy flux, and hence predicts a population of very bright bursts. Other surveys, with different observational parameters, are shown to impose tight…
Brane inflation in superstring theory predicts that cosmic strings (but not domain walls or monopoles) are produced towards the end of the inflationary epoch. Here, we discuss the production, the spectrum and the evolution of such cosmic strings, properties that differentiate them from those coming from an abelian Higgs model. As D-branes in extra dimensions, some type of cosmic strings will dissolve rapidly in spacetime, while the stable ones appear with a spectrum of cosmic string tensions. Moreover, the presence of the extra dimensions reduces the interaction rate of the cosmic strings in s…
Superconducting cosmic strings may be able to power energetic gamma-ray bursts, in particular at high-redshifts ($z>6$). The ultra-relativistic outflows driven by the superconducting cosmic strings, however, seem too narrow to be consistent with the afterglow data of GRB 090423 and GRB 080913.
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.
Flat directions are a generic feature of the scalar potential in supersymmetric gauge field theories. They can arise, for example, from D-terms associated with an extra abelian gauge symmetry. Even when supersymmetry is broken softly, there often remain directions in the scalar field space along which the potential is almost flat. Upon breaking a gauge symmetry along one of these almost flat directions, cosmic strings may form. Relative to the standard cosmic string picture based on the abelian Higgs model, these flat-direction cosmic strings have the extreme Type-I properties of a thin gauge …
In the context of SUSY GUTs, GUT scale cosmic strings formed at the end of hybrid inflation are compatible with currently available CMB measurements. The maximum allowed cosmic strings contribution to the CMB data constrains the free parameters (mass scales, couplings) of inflationary models. For F-term inflation either the superpotential coupling must be fine tuned or one has to invoke the curvaton mechanism. D-term inflation should be addressed in the framework of SUGRA. We find that the cosmic strings contribution is not constant, contrary to some previous results. Using CMB measurements we…
We present a significant update of the constraints on the Abelian Higgs cosmic string tension by cosmic microwave background (CMB) data, enabled both by the use of new high-resolution CMB data from suborbital experiments as well as the latest results of the WMAP satellite, and by improved predictions for the impact of Abelian Higgs cosmic strings on the CMB power spectra. The new cosmic string spectra (presented in a previous work) were improved especially for small angular scales, through the use of larger Abelian Higgs string simulations and careful extrapolation. If Abelian Higgs strings ar…
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.
In this paper the collision of two cosmic string loops is studied. After collision junctions are formed and the loops are entangled. We show that after their formation the junctions start to unzip and the loops disentangle. This analysis provides a theoretical understanding of the unzipping effect observed in numerical simulations of a network of cosmic strings with more than one type of cosmic strings. The unzipping phenomena have important effects in the evolution of cosmic string networks when junctions are formed upon collision, such as in a network of cosmic superstrings.
The GRB outflow driven by superconducting cosmic strings is likely to be an arc rather than a usually-considered spherical cap. In such a case, the afterglows of the cosmic string GRBs could be basically consistent with the observation of the high-redshift GRBs.
We have simulated large-amplitude standing waves on an Abelian-Higgs cosmic string in classical lattice field theory. The radiation rate falls exponentially with wavelength, as one would expect from the field profile around a gauge string. Our results agree with those of Shellard and Moore, but not those of Vincent, Antunes, and Hindmarsh. The radiation rate falls too rapidly to sustain a scaling solution via direct radiation of particles from string length. There is thus reason to doubt claims of strong constraints on cosmic string theories from cosmic ray observations.
The cosmic string is a useful probe of the early Universe and may give us a clue to physics at high energy scales where any artificial particle accelerators cannot reach. Although one of the most promising tools is the cosmic microwave background, the constraint from gravitational waves is becoming so stringent that one may not hope to detect its signatures in the cosmic microwave background. In this paper, we construct a scenario that contains cosmic strings observable in the cosmic microwave background while evading the constraint imposed by the recent pulsar timing data. We argue that cosmi…
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 therefore more easily observable. Their cosmological evolution may also be very different.
Recent work by Jenkins and Sakellariadou claims that cusps on cosmic strings lead to black hole production. To derive this conclusion they use the hoop conjecture in the rest frame of the string loop, rather than in the rest frame of the proposed black hole. Most of the energy they include is the bulk motion of the string near the cusp. We redo the analysis taking this into account and find that cusps on cosmic strings with realistic energy scale do not produce black holes, unless the cusp parameters are extremely fine-tuned.
Photons can gravitationally scatter off a cosmic string loop and gain or lose energy. We consider the spectral distortion induced by cosmic string loops placed in an ambient thermal bath of photons. The fractional deviation from a thermal spectrum caused by cosmic strings is estimated to scale as (G_N μ)^2 z^2, where G_N is Newton's constant, $μ$ is the string tension, and z is the cosmological redshift after which spectral distortions can survive. This effect is large enough to potentially be of observational interest.
Cosmic strings are one-dimensional topological defects which could have been formed in the early stages of our Universe. They triggered a lot of interest, mainly for their cosmological implications: they could offer an alternative to inflation for the generation of density perturbations. It was shown however that cosmic strings lead to inconsistencies with the measurements of the cosmic microwave background temperature anisotropies. The picture is changed recently. It was shown that, on the one hand, cosmic strings can be generically formed in the framework of supersymmetric grand unified theo…
We develop the general formalism for joining, splitting and interconnection of closed and open strings. As an application, we study examples of fundamental cosmic string collisions leading to gravitational collapse. We find that the interconnection of two strings of equal and opposite maximal angular momentum and arbitrarily large mass generically leads to the formation of black holes, provided their relative velocity is small enough.
Standard D-term inflation is studied in the framework of supergravity. D-term inflation produces cosmic strings, however it can still be compatible with CMB measurements without invoking any new physics. The cosmic strings contribution to the CMB data is not constant, nor dominant, contrary to some previous results. Using current CMB measurements, the free parameters (gauge and superpotential couplings, as well as the Fayet-Iliopoulos term) of D-term inflation are constrained.
We describe a new code to search for signatures of cosmic strings in cosmic microwave anisotropy maps. The code implements the Canny Algorithm, an edge detection algorithm designed to search for the lines of large gradients in maps. Such a gradient signature which is coherent in position space is produced by cosmic strings via the Kaiser-Stebbins effect. We test the power of our new code to set limits on the tension of the cosmic strings by analyzing simulated data with and without cosmic strings. We compare maps with a pure Gaussian scale-invariant power spectrum with maps which have a contri…
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