Binary cosmic strings.

The properties of cosmic strings have been investigated in detail for their implications in early-universe cosmology. Although many variations of the basic structure have been discovered, with implications for both the microscopic and macroscopic properties of cosmic strings, the cylindrical symmetry of the short-distance structure of the string is generally unaffected. In this paper we describe some mechanisms leading to an asymmetric structure of the string core, giving the defects a quasi-two-dimensional character. We also begin to investigate the consequences of this internal structure for the microscopic and macroscopic physics.