Electroweak Strings, Sphalerons and Magnetic Fields

Abstract

We describe electroweak strings and their ability to carry Chern-Simons number. Certain string configurations, for any $\theta_W$, carry Chern-Simons number equal to that of the sphaleron and we conjecture that such strings are ``extended sphalerons''. The production of electroweak strings during the phase transition is discussed and it is suggested that electroweak strings could survive long enough for them to play a role in baryogenesis. Finally the issue of magnetic field generation during the electroweak phase transition is addressed and several points not discussed in the existing literature are clarified. A connection is made between electroweak strings and magnetic fields produced at the phase transition. (Based on the talk presented at the NATO workshop on ``Electroweak Physics and the Early Universe'', in Sintra, March 1994)