Strangeness enhancement due to string fluctuations

We study string fragmentation in high multiplicity proton-proton collisions in a model where the string
tension fluctuates. These fluctuations produce exponential pion spectra which are fitted to the transverse
momentum distributions of charged particles for different multiplicities. For each multiplicity the so
obtained hadronic slope parameter defines the magnitude of the string fluctuations which in turn determines
the produced ratio of strange to light quarks. PYTHIA string decay simulations are used to convert each ratio
of strange to light quarks to the appropriate ratio of strange hadrons to pions.