Strings below the Planck scale

Abstract

We show that, for a class of critical strings in ${\bf R}\times S^{1}$-target space, the description of string theory given by its field content (analog model) breaks down when the radius of $S^{1}$ decreases below $R_{0}=\sqrt{\alpha^{\prime}}$, the self-dual point of the partition function $Z(R)$. We find that $Z(R)$ has a soft singularity at $R_{0}$ (a finite jump in the first derivative of $Z$).