Cosmic String Loops, Large and Small

Florian Dubath; Jorge V. Rocha; Joseph Polchinski

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Cosmic String Loops, Large and Small

Florian Dubath, Joseph Polchinski, Jorge V. Rocha

Astrophysics · Submitted 7 Nov 2007

abstract compiled · 2026-09-23 · no language-model review

The authors' main claim We find that the production of small loops (at the gravitational radiation scale) is a robust feature of string networks, in addition to a population of loops near the horizon scale.

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What the abstract itself states, as probabilities: claims first 0.04 · states limitation 0.08 · human participants 0.01 · controlled comparison 0.04 · randomized assignment 0.01 · states quantitative result 0.21 · compares with prior results 0.93 · mentions code or data availability 0.02.

The abstract, sentence by sentence

arXiv listing abstract v2. Results and the main claim are underlined; show every role.

We extend our earlier model of the small scale structure of cosmic string networks through an improved treatment of the separation of long and short scales. We find that the production of small loops (at the gravitational radiation scale) is a robust feature of string networks, in addition to a population of loops near the horizon scale. We obtain quantitative agreement with the scaling of loop production functions as found in simulations by two groups.

background contribution method result interpretation main claim

What the classifier reports for each sentence. The number is the probability it gave the label.
#	sentence	role	the authors' own work	states the main conclusion	strength
s0	We extend our earlier model of the small scale structure of cosmic string networks through an improved treatment of the separation of long and short scales.	contribution 0.73	0.86	0.05	asserted 0.96
s1	We find that the production of small loops (at the gravitational radiation scale) is a robust feature of string networks, in addition to a population of loops near the horizon scale.	result 1.00	0.94	0.72	asserted 1.00
s2	We obtain quantitative agreement with the scaling of loop production functions as found in simulations by two groups.	result 0.99	0.82	0.14	asserted 1.00

What kind of paper the classifier reports this is: theoretical result 0.97 · evidence from simulation or computation 0.53.

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arXiv listing abstract v2

not examined

full text
figures and tables
references and citing sentences
relations to other papers

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P abstract

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S sections
T body sentences
C citations
R cross-paper relations

Every quoted sentence on this record is the authors'. Every label is from Pith's closed vocabulary, with the probability shown beside it. Every number in the measurements table is the authors', checked by code. Record as JSON

The paper

Original abstract

We extend our earlier model of the small scale structure of cosmic string networks through an improved treatment of the separation of long and short scales. We find that the production of small loops (at the gravitational radiation scale) is a robust feature of string networks, in addition to a population of loops near the horizon scale. We obtain quantitative agreement with the scaling of loop production functions as found in simulations by two groups.

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References

Forward citations

Cited by 11 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score. Full citation record

Gravitational Wave and CMB Probes of Axion Kination
hep-ph 2021-08 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

An era of axion-driven kination preceded by matter domination imprints a triangular peak on primordial gravitational waves, detectable by DECIGO and BBO if inflation was near its current energy scale.
Beyond the Standard Models with Cosmic Strings
hep-ph 2019-12 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

Solving the velocity-dependent one-scale equations through cosmological transitions shifts the cosmic-string gravitational-wave turning point to lower frequency by a factor of about 22, letting future interferometers ...
Probing the gravitational wave background from cosmic strings with LISA
astro-ph.CO 2019-09 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

LISA is projected to probe cosmic string tensions G mu down to about 1e-17 and to measure spectral features from early-universe physics.
Stochastic gravitational waves from cosmic string loops in scaling
astro-ph.CO 2017-09 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

Separating the gravitational-wave emission and backreaction scales in the loop distribution, and adding kink-collision emission, splits the cosmic-string gravitational-wave spectrum into a knee and a peak and yields s...
The number of cosmic string loops
astro-ph.CO 2013-09 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

The paper derives the mass and velocity distribution of cosmic string loops from simulations and converts it into a pulsar-timing bound on the string tension of Gμ ≤ 2.8×10⁻⁹.

Show 6 more citing papers

Abelian Higgs Cosmic Strings: Small Scale Structure and Loops
hep-th 2008-12 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

Abelian Higgs string simulations confirm the predicted tangent-vector power law but find loop densities about two orders of magnitude too low for loops to carry away the network's energy, pointing to direct massive ra...
Cosmic string gravitational wave backgrounds at LISA: I. Signal survey, template reconstruction, and model comparison
astro-ph.CO 2025-08 unverdicted novelty 5.0 of 10

As provided, the manuscript body (random lasing) does not correspond to the abstract (cosmic string gravitational wave backgrounds at LISA), leaving the abstract's quantitative claims unsupported by any accessible text.
Cosmic string loop distribution on all length scales and at any redshift
astro-ph.CO 2010-06 conditional novelty 5.0 of 10

Cosmic string loops settle into a universal scaling distribution on all length scales, with a scale-independent plateau below the gravitational backreaction cutoff, and today's loop density is bounded in terms of the ...
The nanohertz stochastic gravitational wave background from cosmic string loops and the abundant high redshift massive galaxies
astro-ph.HE 2023-06 conditional novelty 4.0 of 10

A two-parameter fit of cosmic string loop models to the NANOGrav 15-year spectrum succeeds, but the same parameters underpredict the JWST high-redshift stellar mass density by orders of magnitude, so no single loop po...
Cosmological Backgrounds of Gravitational Waves and eLISA/NGO: Phase Transitions, Cosmic Strings and Other Sources
gr-qc 2012-01 conditional novelty 4.0 of 10

Refined gravitational-wave spectra from first-order phase transitions and cosmic string networks indicate that eLISA could detect phase transitions near 10 TeV and string tensions down to Gμ about 10^-13 for standard ...
Cosmic Strings and Superstrings
hep-th 2009-11 accept novelty 2.0 of 10

Cosmic superstrings formed at the end of brane inflation can be macroscopic, long-lived and low-tension, and their reduced reconnection probability and three-string junctions are the features that would distinguish th...

How the literature uses it

40 arXiv papers cite this in 70 sentences

Each citing sentence is taken from the citing paper's LaTeX source and typed by Pith's classifier. A label appears at probability 0.8 or more (0.95 for support), a contest at 0.7 or more; the quoted words are the citing authors'. How each label was checked · JSON

Papers citing it · 41 sentences without a confident label

Contests it 2 papers

We found that the model for loop production in Ref. [ref] does not describe loop distributions in AH simulations, disagreeing with the observed power law.

Abelian Higgs Cosmic Strings: Small Scale Structure and Loops · Conclusions and Remarks · contest 0.89
For illustration we used an exponential form of the correlation function in contrast to the power-law approximation used in Refs. [ref] , which cannot correctly represent a physically relevant statistics of strings at small scales.

Cosmic string loops: large and small, but not tiny · Discussion · contest 0.73

Builds on it 1 paper

In particular, based on the loop production function of Refs. [ref] , the Boltzmann approach of Ref. [ref] has been extended in Ref. [ref] to include the effects of the initial conditions and gravitational backreaction into the evolution of Nambu–Goto cosmic string loops.

A Boltzmann treatment for the vorton excess problem · Introduction · 0.80

Uses its method or tool 1 paper

For this reason, we use the Polchinski–Rocha (PR) approach of Refs. [ref] in which loops are formed from tangent vector correlations along long strings in scaling.

Cosmic string loop distribution on all length scales and at any redshift · Introduction · 1.00

Compares with it 2 papers

In an attempt to settle the issue, in this article we develop an analytical model of cosmic strings and compare it with another recently proposed model of Ref. [ref] .

Cosmic string loops: large and small, but not tiny · Introduction · 0.98
However, we stress that more realistic loop production functions, such as the Polchinski-Rocha one [ref] , produce smaller loops while matching in amplitude with the Dirac LPF for $ℓ/t=α$ [ref] .

Irreducible cosmic production of relic vortons · The loop distribution at condensation · 0.90

Cites it as support 2 papers

These assumption are motivated by many numerical simulations [ref] as well as by analytical results [ref] .

Non-linear dynamics of cosmic strings with non-scaling loops · Introduction · 1.00
The first three assumptions are motivated by many numerical simulations [ref] as well as by analytical results [ref] , however, the latter assumption might eventually break down.

Semi-scaling cosmic strings · Introduction · 0.99

Cites it as background 16 papers

The number distribution of cosmic string loops is currently under discussion [ref] In [ref] the authors find that loops will only be of microscopic size, in which case loops decay very quickly.

Cosmic Rays from Cosmic Strings with Condensates · Higgs injection function · 0.87
Since the loop size distribution is still an ongoing topic [ref] , we take $α$ as a free parameter, and in fact $α$ is a key parameter for the level of anisotropy.

Anisotropies in the gravitational wave background as a probe of the cosmic string network · GW background from cusps on cosmic string loops · 0.80
This issue is still under debate, see e.g. [ref] .

Cosmic Super-Strings and Kaluza-Klein Modes · Consequences for the Loop Number Density and the Friction-Dominated Epoch · 0.91

What it cites · 33 sentences without a confident label

Contests 2 papers

The integral of the probability ([ref]) for a point on the string to break off becomes large long before the cusp $v=0$ is reached, so the overcounting in Ref. [ref] is explained.

Analytic Study of Small Scale Structure on Cosmic Strings · Introduction · contest 0.90
Ref. [ref] contains several calculational errors that invalidate its conclusions.

Cosmic string loops: large and small, but not tiny · Introduction · contest 0.97

Uses data or values from 1 paper

It is approximately equal to $0.6$ during both radiation and matter domination [ref] .

Analytic Study of Small Scale Structure on Cosmic Strings · Introduction · 0.93

Compares with 3 papers

In fact, this second term is identical to that in Ref. [ref] .

Analytic Study of Small Scale Structure on Cosmic Strings · Introduction · 0.90
Ref. [ref] also finds power law distributions for $x^2 f(x)$, with exponents [equation] The simulations [ref] and [ref] thus agree quite well with each other, both matching our model well in the matter era and giving a slightly steeper distribution in the radiation era.

Cosmological evolution of cosmic string loops · Introduction · 0.97
Ref. [ref] also finds power law distributions for $x^2 f(x)$, with exponents [equation] The simulations [ref] and [ref] thus agree quite well with each other, both matching our model well in the matter era and giving a slightly steeper distribution in the radiation era.

Cosmic string loops in the expanding universe · Introduction · 0.97

Cites as background 7 papers

Estimates of the size of cosmic string loops are uncertain to many orders of magnitudes, ranging from near-horizon scales [ref] down to the gravitational radiation length scale [ref] , and even to microscopic scales [ref] .

Cosmological evolution of cosmic string loops · Introduction · 0.99
Estimates of the size of cosmic string loops are uncertain to many orders of magnitudes, ranging from near-horizon scales [ref] down to the gravitational radiation length scale [ref] , and even to microscopic scales [ref] .

Fractal Properties and Small-scale Structure of Cosmic String Networks · Introduction · 0.99
Estimates of the size of cosmic string loops are uncertain to many orders of magnitudes, ranging from near-horizon scales [ref] down to the gravitational radiation length scale [ref] , and even to microscopic scales [ref] .

Cosmic string loops in the expanding universe · Introduction · 0.99

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