Speaker
Prof.
Jessica Turner
(IPPP Durhan)
Description
We investigate the stochastic gravitational-wave background produced by metastable cosmic strings in a minimal $SU(2) \times U(1)$ dark sector. We demonstrate that a single-scale framework featuring a single Higgs field is sufficient to explain the signal reported by Pulsar Timing Arrays. By calculating the string decay rate via monopole nucleation within the thin-defect approximation, we identify a predictive parameter space where this model fits current observations. This framework provides a theoretically economical alternative to the multi-stage symmetry-breaking patterns typically invoked in the literature.
Primary author
Prof.
Jessica Turner
(IPPP Durhan)
