Speaker
Description
Cosmic string networks are expected to form during symmetry-breaking phase transitions in the early Universe via the Kibble mechanism and arise naturally in many extensions of the Standard Model. In several such scenarios, string networks can carry additional degrees of freedom, such as charges and currents, leading to so-called current-carrying or superconducting cosmic strings. These additional degrees of freedom can significantly affect the evolution of the networks and may lead to distinctive observational signatures. In this work we study the evolution of current-carrying cosmic string networks using large-scale field theory simulations of a U(1) × U(1) model containing two complex scalar fields and their associated gauge fields. In the parameter regime considered here, one sector undergoes symmetry breaking and forms cosmic strings, while the second scalar field remains unbroken outside the string core and provides a condensate localized on the string worldsheet. We explore the network evolution across a broad region of the model’s parameter space, varying condensate and coupling parameters while maintaining the conditions required for stable current-carrying solutions. If time permits, we also present a first characterization of the power spectra of the charge and current fields, providing new numerical diagnostics for the dominant energy loss mechanism of these networks.
| Which topic best fits your talk? | Astrophysics and Cosmology |
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| Affiliations | Centro de Astrofĩsica da Universidade do Porto |