Relic Gravitational Waves from Cosmic Strings: Updated Constraints and Opportunities for Detection

Abstract

We examine the spectrum of gravitational radiation emitted by a network of cosmic strings, with emphasis on the observational constraints and the opportunities for detection. The analysis improves over past work, as we use a phenomenological model for the radiation spectrum emitted by a cosmic string loop. This model attempts to include the effect of the gravitational back-reaction on the radiation emission by an individual loop with a high frequency cut-off in the spectrum. Comparison of the total spectrum due to a network of strings with the recently improved bound on the amplitude of a stochastic gravitational wave background, due to measurements of noise in pulsar signal arrival times, allows us to exclude a range of values of $\mu$, the cosmic string linear mass density, for certain values of cosmic string and cosmological parameters. We find the conservative bound $G\mu /c^2<5.4(\pm 1.1)\times 10^{-6}$ which is consistent with all other limits. We consider variations of the standard cosmological scenario, finding that an under dense, ${\Omega }_0<1$ universe has little effect on the spectrum, whereas the portion of the spectrum probed by gravitational wave detectors is strongly sensitive to the thermal history of the cosmological fluid. We discuss the opportunity for the observation of this stochastic background by resonant mass and laser interferometer gravitational wave detectors.

12 pages (REVTeX), 5 figures

References in corpus (3)

• The stochastic gravity-wave background: sources and detection
• Large Angular Scale CMB Anisotropy Induced by Cosmic Strings
• The Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis Limit to the Number of Neutrino Species

Cited by in corpus (60)

• Gravitational Wave Experiments and Early Universe Cosmology
• Cosmological Backgrounds of Gravitational Waves
• Physics, Astrophysics and Cosmology with Gravitational Waves
• Cosmic F- and D-strings
• Gravitational radiation from cosmic (super)strings: bursts, stochastic background, and observational windows
• Science with the space-based interferometer LISA. IV: Probing inflation with gravitational waves
• Gravitational wave bursts from cosmic strings
• Gravitational wave bursts from cusps and kinks on cosmic strings
• Cosmological Backgrounds of Gravitational Waves and eLISA/NGO: Phase Transitions, Cosmic Strings and Other Sources
• Gravitational wave stochastic background from cosmic (super)strings
• Gravitational wave astronomy
• Timing stability of millisecond pulsars and prospects for gravitational-wave detection
• Constraints on cosmic string tension imposed by the limit on the stochastic gravitational wave background from the European Pulsar Timing Array
• Dark Photon Dark Matter from a Network of Cosmic Strings
• Gravitational Wave Detection with High Frequency Phonon Trapping Acoustic Cavities
• Analysis of First LIGO Science Data for Stochastic Gravitational Waves
• Constraints on Supersymmetric Models of Hybrid Inflation
• Updated constraints on the cosmic string tension
• Probing the equation of state of the early universe with a space laser interferometer
• Prospects for direct detection of primordial gravitational waves
• An Inflationary Model in String Theory
• The first second of the Universe
• TEMPO2, a new pulsar timing package. III: Gravitational wave simulation
• A detail study of defect models for cosmic structure formation
• Probing the Early Universe with Axion Physics and Gravitational Waves
• Bending of Light by Gravity Waves
• Limits on Black Hole Formation from Cosmic String Loops
• Forecast constraints on cosmic string parameters from gravitational wave direct detection experiments
• Structure formation by cosmic strings with a cosmological constant
• Gravitational waves: Classification, Methods of detection, Sensitivities, and Sources
• Primordial backgrounds of relic gravitons
• Gravitational Waves from Light Cosmic Strings: Backgrounds and Bursts with Large Loops
• Cosmic structure formation in Hybrid Inflation models
• Probing Cosmic Superstrings with Gravitational Waves
• Forecast constraints on cosmic strings from future CMB, pulsar timing and gravitational wave direct detection experiments
• Accessibility of the Pre-Big-Bang Models to LIGO
• High Redshift Gamma-Ray Bursts: Observational Signatures of Superconducting Cosmic Strings?
• Scaling configurations of cosmic superstring networks and their cosmological implications
• Observing cosmic string loops with gravitational lensing surveys
• Gravitational waves from kinks on infinite cosmic strings
• Constraints on Brane Inflation and Cosmic Strings
• Gravitational waves and extra dimensions: a short review
• Cosmic Strings in an Open Universe: Quantitative Evolution and Observational Consequences
• Constraints on standard and non-standard early Universe models from CMB B-mode polarization
• The Stochastic Gravitational Wave Background Generated by Cosmic String Networks: the Small-Loop Regime
• Coherent Gravitational Waveforms and Memory from Cosmic String Loops
• Impulsive cylindrical gravitational wave: one possible radiative form emitted from cosmic strings and corresponding electromagnetic response
• New Atomic probes for Dark Matter detection: Axions, Axion-like particles and Topological Defects
• Higher Order Corrections to the Primordial Gravitational Wave Spectrum and its Impact on Parameter Estimates for Inflation
• The First Space-Based Gravitational-Wave Detectors
• Excitation of stellar oscillations by gravitational waves: hydrodynamic model and numerical results for the Sun
• Evading the pulsar constraints on the cosmic string tension in supergravity inflation
• Improved calculation of the gravitational wave spectrum from kinks on infinite cosmic strings
• A perturbative solution for gravitational waves in quadratic gravity
• High frequency background gravitational waves from spontaneous emission of gravitons by hydrogen and helium
• Searching for Long Strings in CMB Maps
• Cosmological effects of decaying cosmic string loops with TeV scale width
• Gravitational waveforms from the evaporating ACO cosmic string loop
• Initial condition of a thick loop cosmic string and linear perturbations
• Accumulative coupling between magnetized tenuous plasma and gravitational waves