CMB and density fluctuations from strings plus inflation

Abstract

In cosmological models where local cosmic strings are formed at the end of a period of inflation, the perturbations are seeded both by the defects and by the quantum fluctuations. In a subset of these models, for example those based on $D$-term inflation, the amplitudes are similar. Using our recent calculations of structure formation with cosmic strings, we point out that in a flat cosmology with zero cosmological constant and 5% baryonic component, strings plus inflation fits the observational data much better than each component individually. The large-angle CMB spectrum is mildly tilted, for Harrison-Zeldovich inflationary fluctuations. It then rises to a thick Doppler bump, covering $\ell=200-600$, modulated by soft secondary undulations. The standard CDM anti-biasing problem is cured, giving place to a slightly biased scenario of galaxy formation.