When Strings Surprise

Abstract

We argue that on-shell excitations with large negative energies are created rapidly when the string coupling increases with time. This does not indicate an inconsistency in string theory since the negative energy on-shell excitation is always entangled with an on-shell excitation with a positive energy. The total energy of this energy-EPR state vanishes. We discuss the reason the energy-EPR states appear in string theory and the role they might play in black hole physics.