LARGE ANGULAR SCALE ANISOTROPY IN COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND INDUCEDBY COSMIC STRINGS

We simulate the anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) in duced by cosmic strings. By numerically evolving a network of cosmic s trings we generate full-sky CMB temperature anisotropy maps. Based on 192 maps, we compute the anisotropy power spectrum for multipole momen ts l less than or equal to 20. By comparing with the observed temperat ure anisotropy, we set the normalization for the cosmic string mass pe r unit length mu, obtaining G mu/c(2) = 1.05(-0.20)(0.35) x 10(-6), wh ich is consistent with all other observational constraints on Cosmic s trings. We demonstrate that the anisotropy pattern is consistent with a Gaussian random field on large angular scales.