An Extension to Models for Cosmic String Formation

Abstract

The canonical Monte-Carlo algorithm for simulating the production of string-like topological defects at a phase transition is extended by introducing a distribution of domain sizes. A strong correlation is found between the fraction in the form of `infinite' string and the variance of the volume of the regions of constant phase.

Comments: Revised version to appear in Phys. Lett. B. Several minor corrections, including title change. 5 pages Latex with 5 postscript figures (uuencoded and compressed). Also available through anonymous ftp from ftp://euclid.tp.ph.ic.ac.uk/papers/ or on WWW at http://euclid.tp.ph.ic.ac.uk/Papers/