Impact of the small-scale structure on the Stochastic Background of Gravitational Waves from cosmic strings

Understand

Numerical simulations and analytical models suggest that infinite cosmic strings produce cosmic string loops of all sizes with a given power-law.

• Precise estimations of the power-law exponent are still matter of debate while numerical simulations do not incorporate all the radiation and back-reaction effects expected to affect the network at small scales.
• Previously it has been shown, using a Boltzmann approach, that depending on the steepness of the loop production function and the gravitational back-reaction scale, a so-called Extra Population of Small Loops (EPSL) can be generated in the loop number density.
• We propose a framework to study the influence of this extra population of small loops on the Stochastic Background of Gravitational Waves (SBGW).