Observational constraints on light cosmic strings from photometry and pulsar timing

Abstract

We constrain the cosmological density of cosmic string loops using two observational signatures -- gravitational microlensing and the Kaiser-Stebbins effect. Photometry from RXTE and CoRoT space missions and pulsar timing from Parkes Pulsar Timing Array, Arecibo and Green Bank radio telescopes allow us to probe cosmic strings in a wide range of tensions $G\mu /c^2=10^{-16}÷10^{-10}$. We find that pulsar timing data provide the most stringent constraints on the abundance of light strings at the level ${\Omega }_s\sim 10^{-3}$. Future observational facilities such as the Square Kilometer Array will allow one to improve these constraints by orders of magnitude.

Comments: 9 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. D