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Description
Discrete non-Abelian symmetries such as A4 are a popular tool for explaining the pattern of neutrino masses and the large lepton mixing angles. If such a symmetry is the remnant of a spontaneously broken continuous group, the breaking can leave behind a network of cosmic strings. In this talk I will discuss the breaking SO(3) to A4, where the strings are classified by the binary tetrahedral group T’. String collisions are richer than in the familiar Abelian case: strings can reconnect, pass through each other, or become joined by a bridge whose flux may belong to an entirely different string network. I will show how the probabilities of these outcomes follow directly from the group structure, rather than being put in by hand as free parameters, as is usual in network models. I will talk about the string evolution describing the energy density and correlation length and compare it to U(1) strings of the same tension. I will then show that the resulting gravitational wave background of the cosmic string network is stronger than the U(1) string case.