Waveforms for gravitational radiation from cosmic string loops

We obtain general formulas for the plus- and cross-polarized waveforms of gravitational radiation emitted by a cosmic string loop in a transverse, traceless (synchronous, harmonic) gauge. These equations are then specialized to the case of piecewise linear loops, and it is shown that the general waveform for such a loop is a piecewise linear function. We give several simple examples of the waveforms from such loops. We also discuss the relation between the gravitational radiation by a smooth loop and by a piecewise linear approximation to it.