| Summary: | In this thesis, I investigate the effects of the gravitational back-reaction force on two
colliding triangular pulses travelling along an infinite cosmic string. The force is deter
mined using a perturbative approach in the Lorentz gauge. This gauge choice is found
to be reasonable in several aspects. Firstly, there is no gravitational back-reaction force
on a single travelling wave. Secondly, the energy emitted by the string as gravitational
radiation is the same as that lost by the string due to the back-reaction. Finally, the force
can be made perpendicular to the string such that the perturbed string trajectory con
tinues to satisfy the equations of motion. Unfortunately, the force equations contain an
arbitrary gauge freedom making it difficult to form definite statements about the effects
of the back-reaction force. However, choosing a reasonable value for the gauge parameter
results in the two wave pulses being flattened out and having their sharp kinks rounded
off.
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