Semiclassical decay of strings with maximum angular momentum

Abstract

We study the classical breaking of a highly excited (closed or open) string state on the leading Regge trajectory, represented by a rotating soliton solution, and we find the resulting solutions for the outgoing two pieces, describing two specific excited string states. This classical picture reproduces very accurately the precise analytical relation of the masses M1 and M2 of the decay products found in a previous quantum computation. The surprising quantum result that the lifetime of this string state grows like the mass as T = const.α′M is naturally described in terms of a semiclassical formula. We also point out some interesting features of the evolution after the splitting process. © SISSA/ISAS 2003.