Asymmetrically twisted strings

Abstract: In this letter a new class of twisted strings is presented, with an asymmetry between the holomorphic and antiholomorphic sectors parametrized by an integer $N$. Their physical content is given by the massless resonances of the closed string plus the mass-level $N$ spectrum of the open string. The appeal of this model is the singling out of the (higher spin) massive levels of string theory together with their self/gauge/gravity interactions. Motivated by the original tree level Kawai-Lewellen-Tye relation for closed strings, its asymmetrically twisted version at four points is conjectured and shown to naturally interpolate with conventional and twisted strings. The resulting four-point amplitudes have a generalized Virasoro-Shapiro dressing factor.