 Pulsating circular string

A circular closed string contracts and re-expands with $X^0=Rt$ and $X^1+i{X}^2=R\cos t{e}^{i\sigma }$. Its proper length is $2\pi R|\cos t|$, while its energy remains $2\pi TR$. At collapse the induced worldsheet metric degenerates, but the Nambu-Goto phase-space action supplies a regular continuation.