Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
cosmic string

cosmic string

2 9.9
An idea in physics about a very thin, long object in space that has a lot of energy
  • noun
  • /ˈkɒzmɪk strɪŋ/
  • Specialized
: cuerda cósmica
  • Cosmic strings ran through both of them, making eddies in the primordial gases, which in turn made suns.
  • cosmic strings and monopoles
  • cosmic strings and global texture
  • tension of cosmic strings

So if you're looking for cosmic strings, you look for galaxies that seem to appear twice, and there's no visible cause of lensing.

Examples

  • Researchers are investigating the possibility that cosmic strings might be responsible for the gravitational effects observed in certain galaxy clusters.

  • There are many types of defects, such as domain walls, cosmic strings, and magnetic monopoles, to name just a few.

    Academic text (2005)

  • Black holes and cosmic strings were just part of the explanation.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • "And that's where your cosmic strings come in?" she asks.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • In more complicated theories, cosmic strings appear where the minimum energy states possess "holes."

    Academic text (2005)

  • Conversely, cosmic strings are much more plausible and, indeed, possible.

    Academic text (2005)

  • So if you're looking for cosmic strings, you look for galaxies that seem to appear twice, and there's no visible cause of lensing.

    Sabine Hossenfelder

  • Yet despite being incredibly thin, cosmic strings are amazingly dense and may stretch across the entire universe—a ten-kilometer length of a single string would weigh more than Earth itself!

    Academic text (2005)

  • Theoretical physicists suggest that cosmic strings could have played a significant role in the early universe's structure formation.

  • If cosmic strings exist, they could provide insights into the fundamental workings of the universe's expansion and energy distribution.

Surface Forms

cosmic string singular
cosmic strings plural

Morphology

cosmic + string

The compound is directly compositional: 'cosmic' (relating to the universe) + 'string' (a thin, thread-like object) yields the idea of a string-like object in space. Although the full scientific implications (energy concentration, one-dimensionality) are technical, the basic referent is literal and predictable from the constituents, so a B1 learner knowing both words would grasp the core meaning.

Etymology

Cosmic string may come from a simple image: a very thin string or 'thread' stretched across space and full of energy, with cosmic meaning 'in space'. That's why the name is used for a tiny, energetic line in the universe.