String Thermalization in Static Spacetimes

Abstract

We study the evolution, the transverse spreadingand the subsequent thermalization of string states inthe Weyl static axisymmetric spacetime. This possessesa singular event horizon on the symmetry axis and a naked singularity along the otherdirections. The branching diffusion process of stringbits approaching the singular black-hole horizonprovides the notion of the temperature that iscalculated for this process. We find that the solution of theFokker-Planck equation in the phase space of thetransverse variables of the string, can be factored asa product of two thermal distributions, provided that the classical conjugate variables satisfy theuncertainty principle. We comment on the possiblephysical significance of this result.