Can spacetime be probed below the string size?

Strings may be explored, through a scattering process at planckian energies, down to distances of the order of the string size. We show that this is possible if the energy is not so extreme to cause a gravitational instability and when the scattering angle approaches some critical value from below....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physics letters. B 1989-01, Vol.216 (1), p.41-47
Main Authors: Amati, D., Ciafaloni, M., Veneziano, G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Exact sciences and technology
General relativity and gravitation
Physics
Quantum gravity
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Summary:Strings may be explored, through a scattering process at planckian energies, down to distances of the order of the string size. We show that this is possible if the energy is not so extreme to cause a gravitational instability and when the scattering angle approaches some critical value from below. Above this angle, the distance starts increasing, thus departing from the usual position-momentum uncertainty relation, and in no instance is the resolution smaller than the string length. This suggests that below the Planck scale the very concept of space-time changes meaning.
ISSN:0370-2693
1873-2445
DOI:10.1016/0370-2693(89)91366-X