ABSTRACT
As was explained in the concluding sections of the last chapter, a cosmic string is essentially a long, thin filament of Higgs field energy, with a thickness smaller than the radius of an electron and a length that could, in principle, stretch across the 1010 or more light years to the edge of the visible Universe. In the wire approximation, such a string is most easily visualized as a line of particles, each with infinitesimal mass, interacting by means of a strong elastic tension. The string can either be open (that is, infinite) or form a closed loop. Under the action of its elastic tension the string can vibrate, oscillate or rotate at high speeds and support a variety of transient, semi-permanent or permanent structures. The resulting range of possible string trajectories will be examined in detail in this and the next three chapters.
