A New Picture of Cosmic String Evolution and Anisotropic Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Background

Abstract: We investigate the anisotropies of the stochastic gravitational-wave background (SGWB) produced by cosmic strings associated with the spontaneous U(1) symmetry breaking of Grand Unified Theory, which happens at the onset of inflation. The string network evolution is determined by primordial fluctuations and never reaches the scaling regime. The string loops are inhomogeneously distributed in large scale regions, resulting in large anisotropies in the SGWB. We find that the angular power spectrum of SGWB anisotropies depends on frequency, which is testable in multiband observations of GWs. In particular, GWs from the cosmic strings can appropriately interpret the common-spectrum process reported by NANOGrav collaboration, and the angular power spectrum in the nanohertz band, $\mathtt{l}(\mathtt{l}+1)C_{\mathtt{l}}=5.6\times 10^{-2}$ at large scales, is expected to be detectable by pulsar timing array experiments in the near future.