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Abstract:

Fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature are being studied with ever increasing precision. Two competing types of theories might describe the origins of these fluctuations: ``inflation'' and ``defects''. Here we show how the differences between these two scenarios can give rise to striking signatures in the microwave fluctuations on small scales, assuming a standard recombination history. These should enable high resolution measurements of CMB anisotropies to distinguish between these two broad classes of theories, independent of the precise details of each.

Abstract:

We study the effects of cosmic strings on structure formation in open universes. We calculate the power spectrum of density perturbations for two class of models: one in which all the dark matter is non baryonic (CDM) and one in which it is all baryonic (BDM). Our results are compared to the 1 in 6 IRAS QDOT power spectrum. The best candidates are then used to estimate $\mu$, the energy per unit length of the string network. Some comments are made on mechanisms by which structures are formed in the two theories.