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Abstract

The evolution of the linear density of kinks on a cosmic string network is examined, and new possibilities about the behavior of the string network are considered. These include (1) allowing kinky regions to selectively chop off; (2) allowing the kink density to determine the lifetime of kinks; and (3) allowing the mean distance between kinks to determine the length of newly formed loops. Under certain of these assumptions, one obtains results also found by Hindmarsh and by Quashnock and Piran. If the average kink density on loops is more than 3 times the average kink density on long strings, then loop production prevents the buildup of kinks on long strings, the mean distance between kinks scales proportional to the horizon length, and the distance between kinks is about the horizon length. In contrast, if the average kink density on loops is less than 3 times that on long strings, then the kink density only scales at late time due to kink decay, and the distance between kinks is at least 4 orders of magnitude smaller than the horizon length.