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Cosmic string loops and gravitational lensing

Katherine Mack (Princeton University)
05 July 2007, 14:15 - 16:00

I will present a method for constraining the existence of cosmic strings with radio-frequency gravitational lensing surveys. By searching for loops rather than long strings, we can place direct constraints that are competitive with those from a search for a stochastic gravitational wave background. Past radio surveys have already ruled out a portion of the cosmic string parameter space, and future radio telescope arrays such as LOFAR and SKA have the potential to outperform current constraints from pulsar timing and the CMB by up to two orders of magnitude.
Mack.pdf [1788 KBytes]