Topological inflation with multiple winding

We analyze the core dynamics of critically coupled, superheavy gauge vortices in the (2+1)-dimensional Einstein-Abelian Higgs system. By numerically solving the Einstein and field equations for various values of the symmetry breaking scale, we identify the regime in which static solutions cease to exist and topological inflation begins. We explicitly include the topological winding of the vortices into the calculation and extract the dependence on the winding of the critical scale separating the static and inflating regimes. Extrapolation of our results suggests that topological inflation might occur within high winding strings formed at the grand unified scale.