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arXiv · hep-th/0408085

Relativistic D-brane Scattering is Extremely Inelastic

Liam McAllister·Indrajit Mitra
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Abstract

We study the effects of quantum production of open strings on the relativistic scattering of D-branes. We find strong corrections to the brane trajectory from copious production of highly-excited open strings, whose typical oscillator level is proportional to the square of the rapidity. In the corrected trajectory, the branes rapidly coincide and remain trapped in a configuration with enhanced symmetry. This is a purely stringy effect which makes relativistic brane collisions exceptionally inelastic. We trace this effect to velocity-dependent corrections to the open-string mass, which render open strings between relativistic D-branes surprisingly light. We observe that pair-creation of open strings could play an important role in cosmological scenarios in which branes approach each other at very high speeds.

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Liam McAllister, Indrajit Mitra. 2004-09-24. Relativistic D-brane Scattering is Extremely Inelastic. https://doi.org/10.1088/1126-6708%2F2005%2F02%2F019

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