Semiclassical decay of strings with maximum angular momentum

A highly excited (closed or open) string state on the leading Regge trajectory can be represented by a rotating soliton solution. There is a semiclassical probability per unit cycle that this string can spontaneously break into two pieces. Here we find the resulting solutions for the outgoing two pieces, which describe two specific excited string states, and show that this semiclassical picture reproduces very accurately the features of the quantum calculation of decay in the large mass M limit. In particular, this picture prescribes the precise analytical relation of the masses M_1 and M_2 of the decay products, and indicates that the lifetime of these string states grows with the mass as T= const. a' M, in agreement with the quantum calculation. Thus, surprisingly, a string with maximum angular momentum becomes more stable for larger masses. We also point out some interesting features of the evolution after the splitting process.