Dual resonance model


In theoretical physics, a dual resonance model arose during the early investigation of string theory as an S-matrix theory of the strong interaction.

Overview

The dual resonance model was based upon the observation that the amplitudes for the s-channel scatterings matched exactly with the amplitudes for the t-channel scatterings among mesons and also the Regge trajectory. It began with the Euler beta function model of Gabriele Veneziano in 1968 for a 4-particle amplitude which has the property that it is explicitly s–t crossing symmetric, exhibits duality between the description in terms of Regge poles or of resonances, and provides a closed-form solution to non-linear finite-energy sum rules relating s- and t- channels.
The Veneziano formula was quickly generalized to an equally consistent N-particle amplitude for which Yoichiro Nambu, Holger Bech Nielsen, and Leonard Susskind provided a physical interpretation in terms of an infinite number of simple harmonic oscillators describing the motion of an extended one-dimensional string, hence came the name "string theory."
The study of dual resonance models was a relatively popular subject of study between 1968 and 1973. It was even taught briefly as a graduate level course at MIT, by Sergio Fubini and Veneziano, who co-authored an early article. It fell rapidly out of favor around 1973 when quantum chromodynamics became the main focus of theoretical research.