String Theory and the Space-Time Uncertainty Principle

The notion of a space-time uncertainty principle in string theory is clarified and further developed. The motivation and the derivation of the principle are first reviewed in a reasonably self-contained way. It is then shown that the nonperturbative (Borel summed) high-energy and high-momentum transfer behavior of string scattering is consistent with the space-time uncertainty principle. It is also shown that, as a consequence of this principle, string theories in 10 dimensions generically exhibit a characteristic length scale which is equal to the well-known 11 dimensional Planck length gs1/3 ℓs of M-theory as the scale at which stringy effects take over the effects of classical supergravity, even without involving D-branes directly. The implications of the space-time uncertainty relation in connection with D-branes and black holes are discussed and reinterpreted. Finally, we present a novel interpretation of the Schild-gauge action for strings from the viewpoint of noncommutative geometry. This conforms to the space-time uncertainty relation by manifestly exhibiting a noncommutativity of quantized string coordinates between, dominantly, space and time. We also discuss the consistency of the space-time uncertainty relation with S and T dualities.