Formation and evolution of cosmic D-strings

Abstract

We study the formation of D and F-cosmic strings in D-brane annihilation after brane inflation. We show that D-string formation by quantum de Sitter fluctuations is severely suppressed, due to suppression of RR field fluctuations in compact dimensions. We discuss the resonant mechanism of production of D and F-strings, which are formed as magnetic and electric flux tubes of the two orthogonal gauge fields living on the world-volume of the unstable brane. We outline the subsequent cosmological evolution of the D-F string network. We also compare the nature of these strings with the ordinary cosmic strings and point out some differences and similarities.