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Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto

Evolution and Astrophysical Consequences of Cosmic Strings and Superstrings

Acções Integradas Luso-Britânicas (B-13/10)

Principal investigator
Carlos J. A. P. Martins

Topological defects necessarily form at phase transitions in the early universe. Being non-linear objects, their study requires a combination of phenomenological analytic modeling and complex numerical simulations. Among the possible defects, cosmic strings and superstring networks are particularly interesting, and recent work suggests their unavoidable formation at the phase transition that ends inflation.

Although cosmic superstrings share many of the properties of standard strings that have been studied in the past, there are important differences: most notably they do not always intercommute when they intersect and the formation of junctions occurs naturally as a result the interaction between the string. Hybrid networks containing various types of defects can also form.

This is a subject that warrants further study, since it can have an impact on the observational signatures of (and searches for) these objects, and may lead to novel astrophysical tests of fundamental physics. The upcoming availability of high-precision data from ESA's Planck Surveyor makes this study particularly timely.      

Portuguese Node: CAUP
Co-PI: Carlos Martins

British Node: Centre for Theoretical Cosmology (CTC)
Co-PI:Edward Shellard

Funding institution
Conselho de Reitores das Universidades Portuguesas

Start: 15 April 2010
End: 31 May 2011


Conselho de Reitores das Universidades Portuguesas  British Council

Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences

Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences (IA) is a new but long anticipated research infrastructure with a national dimension. It embodies a bold but feasible vision for the development of Astronomy, Astrophysics and Space Sciences in Portugal, taking full advantage and fully realizing the potential created by the national membership of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Southern Observatory (ESO). IA resulted from the merging the two most prominent research units in the field in Portugal: the Centre for Astrophysics of the University of Porto (CAUP) and the Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics of the University of Lisbon (CAAUL). It currently hosts more than two-thirds of all active researchers working in Space Sciences in Portugal, and is responsible for an even greater fraction of the national productivity in international ISI journals in the area of Space Sciences. This is the scientific area with the highest relative impact factor (1.65 times above the international average) and the field with the highest average number of citations per article for Portugal.

Proceed on CAUP's website|Go to IA website