Gravitational Waves and Light Cosmic Strings
  Gravitational wave signatures from cosmic strings are analyzed numerically.
Cosmic string networks form during phase transistions in the early universe and
these networks of long cosmic strings break into loops that radiate energy in
the form of gravitational waves until they decay. The gravitational waves come
in the form of harmonic modes from individual string loops, a "confusion noise"
from galactic loops, and a stochastic background of gravitational waves from a
network of loops. In this study string loops of larger size $\alpha$ and lower
string tensions $G\mu$ (where $\mu$ is the mass per unit length of the string)
are investigated than in previous studies. Several detectors are currently
searching for gravitational waves and a space based satellite, the Laser
Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), is in the final stages of pre-flight. The
results for large loop sizes ($\alpha=0.1$) put an upper limit of about
$G\mu<10^{-9}$ and indicate that gravitational waves from string loops down to
$G\mu \approx 10^{-20}$ could be detectabe by LISA. The string tension is
related to the energy scale of the phase transition and the Planck mass via
$G\mu = \Lambda_s^2 / m_{pl}^2$, so the limits on $G\mu$ set the energy scale
of any phase transition to $\Lambda_s < 10^{-4.5} m_{pl}$. Our results indicate
that loops may form a significant gravitational wave signal, even for string
tensions too low to have larger cosmological effects.
