Cosmic string formation from correlated fields

Jan, 1997
24 pages
Published in:
  • Phys.Rev.D 56 (1997) 647-652
e-Print:
Report number:
  • OSU-TA-02-97

Citations per year

199720012005200920112301
Abstract:
We simulate the formation of cosmic strings at the zeros of a complex Gaussian field with a power spectrum P(k)k nP(k) \propto k~n, specifically addressing the issue of the fraction of length in infinite strings. We make two improvements over previous simulations: we include a non-zero random background field in our box to simulate the effect of long-wavelength modes, and we examine the effects of smoothing the field on small scales. The inclusion of the background field significantly reduces the fraction of length in infinite strings for n<2n < -2. Our results are consistent with the possibility that infinite strings disappear at some n=ncn = n_c in the range 3nc<2.2-3 \le n_c < -2.2, although we cannot rule out nc=3n_c = -3, in which case infinite strings would disappear only at the point where the mean string density goes to zero. We present an analytic argument which suggests the latter case. Smoothing on small scales eliminates closed loops on the order of the lattice cell size and leads to a ``lattice-free" estimate of the infinite string fraction. As expected, this fraction depends on the type of window function used for smoothing.
  • 11.27.+d
  • 98.80.Cq
  • cosmic string
  • production: string
  • background field: random
  • lattice field theory
  • Gauss model
  • spectrum
  • correlation function
  • numerical calculations