Wiggly cosmic strings accrete dark energy

Abstract

This paper deals with a study of the cylindrically symmetric accretion of dark energy with equation of state $p=w\rho$ onto wiggly straight cosmic strings. We have obtained that when $w>-1$ the linear energy density in the string core gradually increases tending to a finite maximum value as time increases for all considered dark energy models. On the regime where the dominant energy condition is violated all such models predict a steady decreasing of the linear energy density of the cosmic strings as phantom energy is being accreted. The final state of the string after such an accretion process is a wiggleless defect. It is argued however that if accreation of phantom energy would proceed by successive quantum steps then the defect would continue losing linear energy density until a minimum nonzero value which can be quite smaller than that corresponding to the unperturbed string.