Formation and Evolution of Cosmic Strings

The first step in the study of cosmic strings involves understanding the type of network that forms when the strings are first produced. The universe is treated as a large cube with periodic boundary conditions. The domains that form as Phi approaches the different minima of V are represented by smaller cubes that are stacked into the large one. In each domain, the value of Phi which is approached as the universe cools is chosen at random. A string will form on a domain edge if, when one moves around the four adjacent domain cubes, the corresponding Phi values move completely around the bottom of the Mexican hat.