Astract This article provides a concise overview of recent theoretical results concerning the theory of vortons, which are defined to be (centrifugally supported) equilibrium configurations of (current carrying) cosmic string loops. Following a presentation of the results of work on the dynamical evolution of small circular string loops, whose minimum energy states are the simplest examples of ...

Spherically symmetric numerical models of supernova remnants (SNRs) evolving from the initial explosion up to their final dispersal within the interstellar medium (ISM) and exploding into a tenuous and hot plasma are presented. The parameters of the exploding stars are typical for an old stellar population (Type I SNe) and the external medium is characterized by a temperature between 106K and 3...

We outline several proposals for astrophysical and cosmological tests of quantum theory. The tests are motivated by deterministic hidden-variables theories, and in particular by the view that quantum physics is merely an effective theory of an equilibrium state. The proposed tests involve searching for nonequilibrium violations of quantum theory in: primordial inflaton fluctuations imprinted on...

The production rate is 7.5 kg isotope C-14 yearly. The C-14 concentration stays approximately constant due to rapid mixing of the atmosphere, although the cosmic intensity is higher at the poles due to the deflection of charged cosmic particles along the magnetic field lines of the earth (corresponding to neutron intensities in the ratio 5:1 at the poles and the equator, respectively). Conseque...

The effect of gravity upon changes of the entropy of a gravity-dominated system is discussed. In a universe dominated by vacuum energy, gravity is repulsive, and there is accelerated expansion. Furthermore, inhomogeneities are inflated and the universe approaches a state of thermal equilibrium. The difference between the evolution of the cosmic entropy in a co-moving volume in an inflationary e...

We summarize our new results on cosmic strings presented in [l]. These results include: (1) The application of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics to cosmic string evolution. (2) A simple “one scale” model for the long strings which has a great deal of predictive power. (3) Results from large scale numerical simulations. (4) A discussion of the observational consequences of our results. An up...

The full Klein-Nishina cross section for the inverse Compton scattering interactions of electrons implies a significant reduction of the electron energy loss rate compared to the Thomson limit when the electron energy exceeds the critical Klein-Nishina energy E K = γ K m e c 2 = 0.27m 2 e c 2 /(k B T), where T denotes the temperature of the photon graybody distribution. As a consequence the tot...

In this paper we investigate the role of convection in clusters of galaxies. A number of studies have shown that the convective stability criterion for the intracluster medium (ICM) is very different from the Schwarzchild criterion due to the effects of anisotropic thermal conduction and cosmic rays. Building on these studies, we present a model in which a central active galactic nucleus (AGN) ...

We set up and analyse a model for the non-equilibrium evolution of a network of cosmic strings initially containing only loops and no infinite strings. Due to this particular initial condition, our analytical approach differs significantly from existing ones. We describe the average properties of the network in terms of the distribution function n(ℓ, t)dℓ, the average number of loops per unit v...