Interactions of non-Abelian global strings

Non-Abelian global strings are expected to form during the chiral phase transition. They have orientational zero modes in the internal space, associated with the vector-like symmetry SU_(N)L+R$\mathit{SU}{(N)}_{\mathrm{L}+\mathrm{R}}$ broken in the presence of strings. The interaction among two parallel non-Abelian global strings is derived for general relative orientational zero modes, giving a non-Abelian generalization of the Magnus force. It is shown that when the orientations of the strings are the same, the repulsive force reaches the maximum, whereas when the relative orientation becomes the maximum, no force exists between the strings. For the Abelian case we find a finite volume correction to the known result. The marginal instability of the previously known Abelian η^′${\eta }^{\prime }$ strings is discussed.     

Fundamental cosmic strings

Cosmic strings are linear concentrations of energy that may be formed at phase transitions in the very early universe. At one time they were thought to provide a possible origin for the density inhomogeneities from which galaxies eventually develop, though this idea has been ruled out, primarily by observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Fundamental strings are the supposed building blocks of all matter in superstring theory or its modern version, M-theory. These two concepts were originally very far apart, but recent developments have brought them closer. The ‘brane-world’ scenario in particular suggests the existence of macroscopic fundamental strings that could well play a role very similar to that of cosmic strings.

In this paper, we outline these new developments, and also analyse recent observational evidence, and prospects for the future.     

Stable charged cosmic strings

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 electroweak bosons are coupled to a fermion that is less than twice as heavy as the top quark. This result suggests that extraordinarily large fermion masses or unrealistic couplings are not required to bind a cosmic string in the standard model. Numerically we find the most favorable string profile to be a simple trough in the Higgs vacuum expectation value of radius ≈10(-18) m. The vacuum remains stable in our model, because neutral strings are not energetically favored.     

Self-gravitating general-relativistic cosmic strings

We examine the coupled Einstem-Euler-Lagrange equations for nonstationary cosmic strings. Self-consistent solutions to all the equations are found under the assumption that the energy-momentum tensor is of the formT _t ^t =T _z ^z while all other components vanish. It is shown that the strings are necessarily static in this case and that the scalar field potential must be of the usual quartic form with the coupling constants satisfying e²=8.     

Nongravitational decay of cosmic strings

We investigate the decay of loops of cosmic string via radiation of nongravitational energy. We show that emission of particles other than gravitons and Goldstone bosons is not significant. We use methods which are considerably more rigorous than those used in the past to draw similar conclusions.     

Skyrme-Einstein closed cosmic chiral strings

Within the theory of general relativity, the configuration of a closed string (vortex) characterized by a topological charge of the degree type is described for the Skyrme-Einstein SU (2) chiral model. In the approximation of a large vortex-closure radius (a), a solution to equations of motion is obtained, along with estimates for the vortex energy and radius.