Cosmic Strings

TL;DR

This paper introduces cosmic strings, reviewing their properties, evolution, and observational signatures to provide a comprehensive overview for educational purposes.

Contribution

It offers a concise summary of cosmic strings' main features, their development in the universe, and how they might be detected observationally.

Findings

Cosmic strings are topological defects with distinctive gravitational effects.

They have unique signatures that could be observed through astrophysical measurements.

Their evolution impacts large-scale structure formation.

Abstract

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.