BINARY COSMIC STRINGS

The properties of cosmic strings have been investigated in detail for their implications in early-universe cosmology. Although many variatio ns of the basic structure have been discovered, with implications for both the microscopic and macroscopic properties of cosmic strings, the cylindrical symmetry of the short-distance structure of the string is generally unaffected. In this paper we describe some mechanisms leadi ng to an asymmetric structure of the string core, giving the defects a quasi-two-dimensional character. We also begin to investigate the con sequences of this internal structure for the microscopic and macroscop ic physics.