Abstract
Metastable cosmic strings appear in models of new physics with a two-step symmetry breaking G → H → 1, where π1(H) ≠ 0 and π1(G) = 0. They decay via the monopole-antimonopole pair creation inside. Conventionally, the breaking rate has been estimated by an infinitely thin string approximation, which requires a large hierarchy between the symmetry breaking scales. In this paper, we reexamine it by taking into account the finite sizes of both the cosmic string and the monopole. We obtain a robust lower limit on the tunneling factor \( {e}^{-{S}_B} \) even for regimes the conventional estimate is unreliable. In particular, it is relevant to the cosmic string interpretation of the gravitational wave signals recently reported by pulsar timing array experiments.
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Acknowledgments
This work is supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT), Japan, 21H04471, 22K03615 (M.I.), 20H01895, 20H05860 and 21H00067 (S.S.) and by World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI), MEXT, Japan. This work is also supported by Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Research Fellow JP22KJ0556 (Y.N.) and by International Graduate Program for Excellence in Earth-Space Science (Y.N.). This work is supported by JST SPRING Grant Number JPMJSP2108 (K.W.). This work is supported by FoPM, WINGS Program, the University of Tokyo (A.C.).
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Chitose, A., Ibe, M., Nakayama, Y. et al. Revisiting metastable cosmic string breaking. J. High Energ. Phys. 2024, 68 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP04(2024)068
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP04(2024)068