Prospects for Parameter Estimation with Gravitational Waves from Cosmic Strings

Cosmic strings are one-dimensional topological defects which may have formed during spontaneous symmetry-breaking phase transitions in the early Universe. Cusps and kinks, special points along cosmic strings, produce transient bursts of gravitational waves with known waveforms. Observation and characterization of these gravitational waves may provide a probe of Beyond the Standard Model physics. In this talk, we report the results of using parameter estimation routines on simulated cosmic string signals added to Advanced LIGO data as well as next-generation gravitational wave observatory data. We demonstrate the efficacy of parameter estimation at recovering the properties of the injected gravitational waves as well as its results when parameter estimation is applied to noise transients which resemble cosmic string signals. We also outline the regime where gravitational wave bursts from cusps, kinks and kink-kink collisions can be distinguished. Reliable parameter estimation, in concert with confident detections of gravitational waves from cosmic strings, will be critical in understanding this promising probe of early Universe physics.