Large angular scale anisotropy in cosmic microwave background induced by cosmic strings

We simulate the anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) induced by cosmic strings. By numerically evolving a network of cosmic strings we generate full-sky CMB temperature anisotropy maps. Based on 192 maps, we compute the anisotropy power spectrum for multipole moments l less than or equal to 20. By comparing with the observed temperature anisotropy, we set the normalization for the cosmic string mass per unit length mu, obtaining G mu/c(2) = 1.05(-0.20)(0.35) x 10(-6), which is consistent with all other observational constraints on Cosmic strings. We demonstrate that the anisotropy pattern is consistent with a Gaussian random field on large angular scales.