Energy-conservation constraints on cosmic string loop production and distribution functions

Abstract

A network of cosmic strings would lead to gravitational waves which may be detected by pulsar timing or future interferometers. The details of the gravitational wave signal depend on the distribution of cosmic string loops, which are produced by intercommutations from the scaling network of long strings. We analyze the limits imposed by energy conservation, i.e., by the fact that the total amount of string flowing into loops cannot exceed the amount leaving the long strings. We show that some recent suggestions for the cosmic string loop production rate and distribution are ruled out by these limits. As a result, gravitational waves based on such suggestions, in particular "model 3" used in LIGO data analysis, are not to be expected.

11 pages. v2: new appendix on range of beta, clarifications

References in corpus (8)

• The NANOGrav 11-year Data Set: Pulsar-timing Constraints On The Stochastic Gravitational-wave Background
• The Astrophysics of Nanohertz Gravitational Waves
• New limits on cosmic strings from gravitational wave observation
• Constraints on cosmic strings using data from the first Advanced LIGO observing run
• Cosmic string loop distribution on all length scales and at any redshift
• Stochastic gravitational waves from cosmic string loops in scaling
• Cosmic String Structure at the Gravitational Radiation Scale
• Cosmic string loop production functions

Cited by in corpus (21)

• Cosmology with the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna
• Cosmic String Interpretation of NANOGrav Pulsar Timing Data
• Probing the gravitational wave background from cosmic strings with LISA
• Beyond the Standard Models with Cosmic Strings
• The Science of the Einstein Telescope
• Comparison of cosmic string and superstring models to NANOGrav 12.5-year results
• Full analytical approximation to the stochastic gravitational wave background generated by cosmic string networks
• Direct determination of cosmic string loop density from simulations
• Pinning down the primordial black hole formation mechanism with gamma-rays and gravitational waves
• Coherent Gravitational Waveforms and Memory from Cosmic String Loops
• Revised bounds on local cosmic strings from NANOGrav observations
• Constraints on the cosmic string loop collapse fraction from Primordial Black Holes
• A window for cosmic strings
• Impact of the small-scale structure on the Stochastic Background of Gravitational Waves from cosmic strings
• CMB anisotropies generated by cosmic string loops
• Ringdown Spectroscopy of Rotating Black Holes Pierced by Cosmic Strings
• Clustering of cosmic string loops
• The cusp properties of High Harmonic Loops
• Probing Leptophobic Dark Sectors via Gravitational Wave Signatures
• Breaking the Strings: the signatures of Cosmic String Loop Fragmentation
• High-harmonic cosmic strings and gravitational waves