This award funds the cosmic-string research of Professors Ken Olum and Jose Blanco-Pillado at Tufs University.
Cosmic strings are microscopically thin or even fundamental objects of cosmological length. They can arise from symmetry breaking in field theory or from superstring theory. They can produce observational signatures in the cosmic microwave background, in cosmic rays, in ultra-high-energy neutrinos, or in gravity waves. If cosmic strings are detected, they will provide a window onto fundamental physics and energies beyond the reach of any accelerator. Over the past three years, the Tufts cosmology group has developed a large, parallel computer simulation of cosmic string networks. This simulation can handle a much larger volume for a much longer time than any other. This project will make use of this simulation in order to study the shapes of cosmic string loops, the power spectrum of excitations on long cosmic strings, and the the specific processes which give rise to the spectrum of cosmic string loops. All these questions are of paramount importance to the observational signatures of a string network.
The project will have a broader impact through the involvement of graduate students and through opportunities for students from underrepresented groups to participate in research. Its results will be broadly disseminated through publication in journals and made available to the public on the World Wide Web. This project will also benefit society by further connecting studies of the universe with studies of the fundamental laws of nature.
