The Production, Spectrum and Evolution of Cosmic Strings in Brane Inflation

TL;DR

This paper explores the production, spectrum, and evolution of cosmic strings predicted by brane inflation in superstring theory, highlighting their unique properties and potential observational signatures compared to traditional models.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of the properties and dynamics of cosmic strings from brane inflation, including their tension spectrum and interaction rates, which differ from field theory predictions.

Findings

Cosmic strings are produced at the end of brane inflation.

Some cosmic strings dissolve rapidly, while stable ones have a spectrum of tensions.

Extra dimensions can increase the density of cosmic string networks.

Abstract

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 some scenarios, resulting in an order of magnitude enhancement of the number/energy density of the cosmic string network when compared to the field theory case.