A critical look at 50 years particle theory from the perspective of the crossing property

The crossing property, which originated more than 5 decades ago in the aftermath of dispersion relations, was the central new concept which opened an S-matrix based line of research in particle theory. Many constructive ideas in particle theory outside perturbative QFT, among them the S-matrix bootstrap program, the dual resonance model and the various stages of string theory have their historical roots in this property. The crossing property is perhaps the most subtle aspect of the particle-field relation. Although it is not difficult to state its content in terms of certain analytic properties relating different matrix elements of the S-matrix or form factors, its relation to the localization- and positive energy spectral principles requires a level of insight into the inner workings of QFT which goes beyond anything which can be found in typical textbooks on QFT. This paper presents a recent account based on new ideas derived from 'modular localization' including a mathematic appendix on this subject. The main content is an in-depth criticism of the dual model and its string theoretic extension. The conceptual flaws of these models are closely related to misunderstandings of the true meaning of crossing. The correct interpretation of string theory is that of a dynamic infinite component wave function or pointlike field i.e. a theory which under irreducible Poincare decomposition into an infinite mass/spin tower but which also contains operators which do not commute with the generators of the Poincare group but rather intertwine between different mass/spin levels. (author)