Are GRB 090423 and Similar bursts due to Superconducting Cosmic strings?

Abstract

Superconducting cosmic strings may be able to power energetic gamma-ray bursts, in particular at high-redshifts ($z>6$). The ultra-relativistic outflows driven by the superconducting cosmic strings, however, seem too narrow to be consistent with the afterglow data of GRB 090423 and GRB 080913.

Comments: Updated to match the version published in Phys. Rev. Lett