Abstract
In the usual statistical mechanical theory of strings the mean square potential energy of a string element is infinite. This is in contradiction with the assumption that the potential energy of a string element is small; this assumption is used to linearize the equations of motion. In this note, we show that the difficulty can be remedied if we take into account the finite thickness of the string, introducing thereby additional terms to the energy connected with bending.
- Received 29 October 1958
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.113.1178
©1959 American Physical Society