Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2014
Abstract
Cosmic strings can give rise to a large variety of interesting astrophysical phenomena. Among them, powerful bursts of gravitational waves (GWs) produced by cusps are a promising observational signature. In this Letter we present a search for GWs from cosmic string cusps in data collected by the LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave detectors between 2005 and 2010, with over 625 days of live time. We find no evidence of GW signals from cosmic strings. From this result, we derive new constraints on cosmic string parameters, which complement and improve existing limits from previous searches for a stochastic background of GWs from cosmic microwave background measurements and pulsar timing data. In particular, if the size of loops is given by the gravitational backreaction scale, we place upper limits on the string tension Gμ below 10−8 in some regions of the cosmic string parameter space.
Recommended Citation
Aasi, J., et al. “Constraints on Cosmic Strings from the LIGO-Virgo Gravitational-Wave Detectors.” Physical Review Letters, vol. 112, no. 13, American Physical Society, Apr. 2014, p. 131101, https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.131101
Publication Title
Physical Review Letters
DOI
10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.131101
Comments
© 2014 American Physical Society. Original published version available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.131101