Cosmic string bursts in LISA

Understand

Cosmic string cusps are sources of short-lived, linearly polarised gravitational wave bursts which can be searched for in gravitational wave detectors.

• We assess the capability of LISA to detect these bursts using the latest LISA configuration and operational assumptions.
• For such short bursts, we verify that LISA can be considered as ``frozen", namely that one can neglect LISA's orbital motion.
• We consider two models for the network of cosmic string loops, and estimate that LISA should be able to detect 4-30 bursts per year assuming a string tension $G\mu \approx 10^{-10.6} - 10^{-10.1}$ and detection threshold $\rm{SNR} \ge 20$.