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<p>We show that metastable cosmic strings break at early times, either via finite-temperature effects or by attaching to pre-existing monopoles during network percolation. The resulting segments can be initially super-horizon in size and thus persist for a significant amount of time. If the strings do not re-percolate, the network’s eventual destruction is typically due to this early-time breaking rather than late-time quantum tunnelling. Survival of strings to epochs probed by NANOGrav requires <InlineEquation ID="IEq1"> <EquationSource Format="MATHML"><math display="inline"> <msubsup> <mi>m</mi> <mi>M</mi> <mn>2</mn> </msubsup> <mo>/</mo> <mi>μ</mi> </math></EquationSource> <EquationSource Format="TEX">\( {m}_M^2/\mu \)</EquationSource> </InlineEquation> ≳ 10<sup>3</sup>, where <i>m</i><sub><i>M</i></sub> and <i>μ</i> are the monopole mass and the string tension respectively, over an order of magnitude larger than previous estimates. We also revisit quantum-tunnelling induced breaking. Results from numerical simulations suggest that this occurs mainly at rare high-tension points on the strings, yielding a rate much larger than is usually assumed. We briefly discuss the related scenario of flux tubes in a dark QCD-like hidden sector with dark-quark masses above the confinement scale.</p>

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Metastable cosmic strings are broken at the start

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月23日

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  • Lorenzo Tranchedone,
  • Ethan Carragher,
  • Edward Hardy,
  • Natálie Koscelanská van IJcken

摘要

We show that metastable cosmic strings break at early times, either via finite-temperature effects or by attaching to pre-existing monopoles during network percolation. The resulting segments can be initially super-horizon in size and thus persist for a significant amount of time. If the strings do not re-percolate, the network’s eventual destruction is typically due to this early-time breaking rather than late-time quantum tunnelling. Survival of strings to epochs probed by NANOGrav requires m M 2 / μ \( {m}_M^2/\mu \) ≳ 103, where mM and μ are the monopole mass and the string tension respectively, over an order of magnitude larger than previous estimates. We also revisit quantum-tunnelling induced breaking. Results from numerical simulations suggest that this occurs mainly at rare high-tension points on the strings, yielding a rate much larger than is usually assumed. We briefly discuss the related scenario of flux tubes in a dark QCD-like hidden sector with dark-quark masses above the confinement scale.