Cosmic (Super)String Constraints from 21 cm Radiation.
We calculate the contribution of cosmic strings arising from a phase transition in the early Universe, or cosmic superstrings arising from brane inflation, to the cosmic 21 cm power spectrum at redshifts z > or =30. Future experiments can exploit this effect to constrain the cosmic string tension G mu and probe virtually the entire brane inflation model space allowed by current observations. Although current experiments with a collecting area of approximately 1 km2 will not provide any useful constraints, future experiments with a collecting area of 10(4)-10(6) km2 covering the cleanest 10% of the sky can, in principle, constrain cosmic strings with tension G mu > or = 10(-10)-10(-12) (superstring/phase transition mass scale >10(13) GeV).
Khatri
Rishi
R
Department of Astronomy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1002 W. Green Street, Urbana, IL 61801, USA. rkhatri2@uiuc.edu
Wandelt
Benjamin D
BD