Interpretation of High Energy String Scattering in terms of String Configurations

TL;DR

This paper interprets high energy string scattering by linking it to specific string configurations and trajectories, revealing a picture of strings as composite systems with zero-energy constituents dominating scattering at large momentum transfer.

Contribution

It introduces a novel interpretation of high energy string scattering through families of string states and their associated trajectories, including sister trajectories and their excitations.

Findings

High energy scattering dominated by Regge trajectories and their daughters.

Sister trajectories correspond to string excitations in specific modes.

At large momentum transfer, scattering is dominated by wee partons, supporting a composite string model.

Abstract

High energy string scattering at fixed momentum transfer, known to be dominated by Regge trajectory exchange, is interpreted by identifying families of string states which induce each type of trajectory exchange. These include the usual leading trajectory $\alpha(t)=\alpha^\prime t+1$ and its daughters as well as the ``sister'' trajectories $\alpha_m(t)=\alpha(t)/m-(m-1)/2$ and their daughters. The contribution of the sister $\alpha_m$ to high energy scattering is dominated by string excitations in the $m^{th}$ mode. Thus, at large $-t$, string scattering is dominated by wee partons, consistently with a picture of string as an infinitely composite system of ``constituents'' which carry zero energy and momentum.