We investigate the effect of wiggly cosmic strings on the cosmic microwave background radiation anisotropy and matter power spectrum by modifying the string network model used by Albrecht et al. We employ the wiggly equation of state for strings and the one-scale model for the cosmological evolution of certain network characteristics. For the same choice of simulation parameters we compare the results with and without including wiggliness in the model and find that wiggliness together with the accompanying low string velocities leads to a significant peak in the microwave background anisotropy and to an enhancement in the matter power spectrum. For the cosmologies we have investigated (standard CDM and CDM plus a cosmological constant), and within the limitations of our modeling of the string network, the anisotropy is in reasonable agreement with current observations but the COBE normalized amplitude of density perturbations is lower than what the data suggest. In the case of a cosmological constant and CDM model, a bias factor of about 2 is required.

• Received 25 March 1999

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.60.083504