Brane-world cosmic strings revive the cosmological constant

We obtain the static and cylindrically symmetric vacuum solutions of Einstein's field equations in the framework of the brane-world model where the matter is localized on the brane by means of a confining potential. Considering a constant curvature bulk, one interesting solution is studied, which is similar to the cosmic string solution in a de Sitter spacetime which confirms the idea that the extra geometrical terms in the gravitational field equations on the brane may be the origin of a positive cosmological constant which is responsible for the accelerating expansion of the universe. Finally, we investigate the physical properties of this solution. (paper)