# Gravitational backreaction simulations of simple cosmic string loops

## TL;DR

This paper uses computational simulations to study how gravitational backreaction affects simple cosmic string loops, revealing how cusps and kinks evolve and lose energy over time.

## Contribution

It provides new insights into the evolution of cusps and kinks on cosmic string loops due to gravitational backreaction, a topic not extensively explored before.

## Key findings

- Kinks are smoothed out by asymmetric divergent corrections.
- Cusps form where kinks are rounded off, but they lose energy over time.
- Backreaction shifts the position of kinks and cusps slightly with each oscillation.

## Abstract

We present the results of computational gravitational backreaction on simple models of cosmic string loops. These results give us insight into the general behavior of cusps and kinks on loops, in addition to other features of evolution. Kinks are rounded off via an asymmetric and divergent correction to the string direction. The result is that cusps emerge in the place of kinks but the resulting smooth string section has a small amount of energy. Existing cusps persist, but quickly lose strength as backreaction removes energy from the string surrounding the cusp. Both kinks and cusps have their location in space shifted slightly with each oscillation.