Generalized Veneziano and Virasoro amplitudes

Abstract

We analyze so-called generalized Veneziano and generalized Virasoro amplitudes. Under some physical assumptions, we find that their spectra must satisfy an over-determined set of non-linear recursion relations. The recursion relation for the generalized Veneziano amplitudes can be solved analytically and yields a two-parameter family which includes the Veneziano amplitude, the one-parameter family of Coon amplitudes, and a larger two-parameter family of amplitudes with an infinite tower of spins at each mass level. In the generalized Virasoro case, the only consistent solution is the string spectrum.