A note on string excitations and the Higuchi bound

Abstract

In this brief note we consider the interaction between high spin excitations in string theory along the Regge trajectory and the Higuchi bound in de Sitter space. There is always a point along the Regge trajectory where the Higuchi bound is violated. However, this point precisely coincides with a string whose length is of order the de Sitter Hubble scale. String theory therefore manifests no immediate inconsistency as long as the string scale Ms is above the Hubble scale H. However, an implication is that the Regge trajectory must be significantly modified at some ultraviolet scale. Insisting that this modification should occur no earlier than the Planck scale would lead to a bound on the string scale of Ms>HMp.