Effective nonintercommutation of local cosmic strings at high collision speeds.pdfVIP

Effective non-intercommutation of local cosmic strings at high collision speeds Ana Ach´ucarro∗ Instituut-Lorentz for Theoretical Physics, Leiden, The Netherlands and Department of Theoretical Physics, The University of the Basque Country UPV-EHU, 38940 Bilbao, Spain Roland de Putter† Instituut-Lorentz for Theoretical Physics, Leiden, The Netherlands (Dated: February 1, 2008) We present evidence that Abrikosov-Nielsen-Olesen (ANO) strings pass through each other for very high speeds of approach due to a double intercommutation. In near-perpendicular collisions numerical simulations give threshold speeds bounded above by ∼ 0.97c for type I, and by ∼ 0.90c for deep type II strings. The second intercommutation occurs because at ultra high collision speeds, the connecting segments formed by the first intercommutation are nearly static and almost antiparallel, 6 which gives them time to interact and annihilate. A simple model explains the rough features of 0 the threshold velocity dependence with the incidence angle. For deep type II strings and large 0 incidence angles a second effect becomes dominant, the formation of a loop that catches up with 2 the interpolating segments. The loop is related to the observed vortex - antivortex reemergence in t two-dimensions. In this case the critical value for double intercommuta