Cosmic strings are topological defects which may formed in the early Universe. These strings self-interact and form loops. Cosmic string loops oscillate and radiate energy through gravitational waves. Detecting  gravitational waves from cosmic strings would be an important proof of the existence of such objects!

Searching for gravitational waves

Gravitational waves from cosmic strings are searched in LIGO and Virgo data. Analysis tools have been developed at IJCLab to extract these signals. Until now, no gravitational waves have been detected. However, this research led to constrain cosmic string models.

Contributions from the Gravitational Wave group at IJCLab

  • Development of scientific algorithms to analyze LIGO and Virgo data and to search for cosmic string signals.
  • Development of simulation tools to compute rates and spectra of gravitational waves predicted by theoritical models.
  • Scientific papers presenting the results of LIGO-Virgo searches for gravitational waves from cosmic strings.