We use massive CSW rules to derive explicit compact expressions for integrands of rational terms in QCD with any number of external legs. Specifically, we present all-n integrands for the one-loop all-plus and one-minus gluon amplitudes in QCD. We extract the finite part of spurious external-bubble contributions systematically; this is crucial for the application of integrand-level CSW rules in theories without supersymmetry. Our approach yields integrands that are independent of the choice of CSW reference spinor even before integration.
Furthermore, we present a recursive derivation of the recently proposed massive CSW-style vertex expansion for massive tree amplitudes and loop integrands on the Coulomb-branch of N=4 SYM. The derivation requires a careful study of boundary terms in all-line shift recursion relations, and provides a rigorous (albeit indirect) proof of the recently proposed construction of massive amplitudes from soft-limits of massless on-shell amplitudes. We show that the massive vertex expansion manifestly preserves all holomorphic and half of the anti-holomorphic supercharges, diagram-by-diagram, even off-shell.
One-loop maximal helicity violating (MHV) amplitudes in N=4 super Yang-Mills (SYM) theories are analyzed, using the prescription of Cachazo, Svrcek, and Witten (CSW). The relations between leading N_c amplitudes A_{n;1} and sub-leading amplitudes A_{n;c} obtained by the CSW prescription are found to be identical to those obtained from conventional field theory calculations. Combining with existing results, this establishes the validity of the CSW prescription to one-loop in the calculation of MHV amplitudes in N=4 SYM theories of finite N_c.
In this paper we present the all-loop conjecture for integrands of Wilson line form factors, also known as reggeon amplitudes, in N=4 SYM. In particular we present a new gluing operation in momentum twistor space used to obtain reggeon tree-level amplitudes and loop integrands starting from corresponding expressions for on-shell amplitudes. The introduced gluing procedure is used to derive BCFW recursions both for tree-level reggeon amplitudes and their loop integrands. In addition we provide predictions for reggeon loop integrands written in the basis of local integrals. As a check of the cor…
We present a systematic method to extract the entire tree-level S-matrix on the Coulomb branch of N=4 SYM from soft-scalar limits of on-shell amplitudes at the origin of moduli space. Massive amplitudes in the spontaneously-broken theory can thus be computed from on-shell amplitudes in the massless, unbroken theory. To check this correspondence, we first prove that soft and collinear divergences in the required massless amplitudes cancel for a judicious choice of soft-scalar momenta. We then explicitly verify our proposal in examples with arbitrarily many external legs and to all orders in the…
We propose a new program for computing a certain integrand of scattering amplitudes of four-dimensional gauge theories which we call the \textit{form factor integrand}, starting from 6d holomorphic theories on twistor space. We show that the form factor integrands can be expressed as sums of products of 1.) correlators of a 2d chiral algebra, related to the algebra of asymptotic symmetries uncovered recently in the celestial holography program, and 2.) OPE coefficients of a 4d non-unitary CFT. We prove that conformal blocks of the chiral algebras are in one-to-one correspondence with local ope…
Under the assumption of a CSW generalization to loop amplitudes in N=4 SYM, (1) We prove that, formally the S-matrix is superconformal invariant to any loop order, and (2) We argue that superconformal symmetry survives regularization. More precisely, IR safe quantities constructed from the S-matrix are superconformal covariant. The IR divergences are regularized in a new holomorphic anomaly friendly regularization. The CSW prescription is known to be valid for all tree level amplitudes and for one loop MHV amplitudes. In these cases, our formal results do not rely on any assumptions.
An ambiguity inherent in the partial integration procedure leading to the Bern-Kosower rules is fixed in a way which preserves the complete permutation symmetry in the scattering states. This leads to a canonical version of the Bern-Kosower representation for the one-loop N - photon/gluon amplitudes, and to a natural decomposition of those amplitudes into permutation symmetric gauge invariant partial amplitudes. This decomposition exhibits a simple recursive structure.
We study the four-point correlation function of stress-tensor supermultiplets in N=4 SYM using the method of Lagrangian insertions. We argue that, as a corollary of N=4 superconformal symmetry, the resulting all-loop integrand possesses an unexpected complete symmetry under the exchange of the four external and all the internal (integration) points. This alone allows us to predict the integrand of the three-loop correlation function up to four undetermined constants. Further, exploiting the conjectured amplitude/correlation function duality, we are able to fully determine the three-loop integr…
We present recent developments on the topic of the integrand reduction of scattering amplitudes. Integrand-level methods allow to express an amplitude as a linear combination of Master Integrals, by performing operations on the corresponding integrands. This approach has already been successfully applied and automated at one loop, and recently extended to higher loops. We describe a coherent framework based on simple concepts of algebraic geometry, such as multivariate polynomial division, which can be used in order to obtain the integrand decomposition of any amplitude at any loop order. In t…
We use generalized unitarity at the integrand-level to directly construct local, manifestly dual-conformally invariant formulae for all two-loop scattering amplitudes in planar, maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory (SYM). This representation separates contributions into manifestly finite and divergent terms---in a way that makes manifest the exponentiation of infrared divergences at the integrand-level. These results perfectly match the all-loop BCFW recursion relations, to which we provide a closed-form solution valid through two-loop-order. Finally, we describe and document a Mathemati…
We study the relationship between the momentum twistor MHV vertex expansion of planar amplitudes in N=4 super-Yang-Mills and the all-loop generalization of the BCFW recursion relations. We demonstrate explicitly in several examples that the MHV vertex expressions for tree-level amplitudes and loop integrands satisfy the recursion relations. Furthermore, we introduce a rewriting of the MHV expansion in terms of sums over non-crossing partitions and show that this cyclically invariant formula satisfies the recursion relations for all numbers of legs and all loop orders.
We propose a first implementation of the integrand-reduction method for two-loop scattering amplitudes. We show that the residues of the amplitudes on multi-particle cuts are polynomials in the irreducible scalar products involving the loop momenta, and that the reduction of the amplitudes in terms of master integrals can be realized through polynomial fitting of the integrand, without any apriori knowledge of the integral basis. We discuss how the polynomial shapes of the residues determine the basis of master integrals appearing in the final result. We present a four-dimensional constructive…
Integrands for colour ordered scattering amplitudes in planar N=4 SYM are dual to those of correlation functions of the energy-momentum multiplet of the theory. The construction can relate amplitudes with different numbers of legs. By graph theory methods the integrand of the four-point function of energy-momentum multiplets has been constructed up to six loops in previous work. In this article we extend this analysis to seven loops and use it to construct the full integrand of the five-point amplitude up to five loops, and in the parity even sector to six loops. All results, both parity even …
A duality has recently been conjectured between all leading singularities of n-particle N^(k-2)MHV scattering amplitudes in N=4 SYM and the residues of a contour integral with a natural measure over the Grassmannian G(k,n). In this note we show that a simple contour deformation converts the sum of Grassmannian residues associated with the BCFW expansion of NMHV tree amplitudes to the CSW expansion of the same amplitude. We propose that for general k the same deformation yields the (k-2) parameter Risager expansion. We establish this equivalence for all MHV-bar amplitudes and show that the Risa…
We give an explicit recursive formula for the all L-loop integrand for scattering amplitudes in N=4 SYM in the planar limit, manifesting the full Yangian symmetry of the theory. This generalizes the BCFW recursion relation for tree amplitudes to all loop orders, and extends the Grassmannian duality for leading singularities to the full amplitude. It also provides a new physical picture for the meaning of loops, associated with canonical operations for removing particles in a Yangian-invariant way. Loop amplitudes arise from the "entangled" removal of pairs of particles, and are naturally prese…
This thesis is focused on the development of new mathematical methods for computing multi-loop scattering amplitudes in gauge theories. In this work we combine, for the first time, the unitarity-based construction for integrands, and the recently introduced integrand-reduction through multivariate polynomial division. After discussing the generic features of this novel reduction algorithm, we will apply it to the one- and two-loop five-point amplitudes in ${\cal N}=4$ sYM. The integrands of the multiple-cuts are generated from products of tree-level amplitudes within the super-amplitudes forma…
We present a construction of the integrand of the correlation function of four stress-tensor multiplets in N=4 SYM at weak coupling. It does not rely on Feynman diagrams and makes use of the recently discovered symmetry of the integrand under permutations of external and integration points. This symmetry holds for any gauge group, so it can be used to predict the integrand both in the planar and non-planar sectors. We demonstrate the great efficiency of graph-theoretical tools in the systematic study of the possible permutation symmetric integrands. We formulate a general ansatz for the correl…
A non-trivial consequence of the super-correlator/super-amplitude duality is that the integrand of the four-point correlation function of stress-tensor multiplets in planar N=4 super Yang-Mills contains a certain combination of n-point amplitude integrands for any n. This combination is the sum of products of all helicity super-amplitudes with their corresponding helicity conjugates. The four-point correlator itself is described by a single scalar function whose loop level integrands possess a hidden permutation symmetry facilitating its computation up to ten loops. We discover that assuming Y…
The four-point function of length-two half-BPS operators in $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM receives non-planar corrections starting at four loops. Previous work relied on the analysis of symmetries and logarithmic divergences to fix the integrand up to four constants. In this work, we compute those undetermined coefficients and fix the integrand completely by using the reformulation of $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM in twistor space. The final integrand can be written as a combination of finite conformal integrals and we have used the method of asymptotic expansions to extract non-planar anomalous dimensions and st…
We develop an iterative method for constructing four-dimensional generalized unitarity cuts in $\mathcal{N} = 2$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills (SYM) theory coupled to fundamental matter hypermultiplets ($\mathcal{N} = 2$ SQCD). For iterated two-particle cuts,specifically those involving only four-point amplitudes, this implies simple diagrammatic rules for assembling the cuts to any loop order, reminiscent of the rung rule in $\mathcal{N} = 4$ SYM. By identifying physical poles, the construction simplifies the task of extracting complete integrands. In combination with the duality between color an…
In this work we explore the properties of four-dimensional gravity integrands at large loop momenta. This analysis can not be done directly for the full off-shell integrand but only becomes well-defined on cuts that allow us to unambiguously specify labels for the loop variables. The ultraviolet region of scattering amplitudes originates from poles at infinity of the loop integrands and we show that in gravity these integcrands conceal a number of surprising features. In particular, certain poles at infinity are absent which requires a conspiracy between individual Feynman integrals contributi…
Recently, an explicit, recursive formula for the all-loop integrand of planar scattering amplitudes in N=4 SYM has been described, generalizing the BCFW formula for tree amplitudes, and making manifest the Yangian symmetry of the theory. This has made it possible to easily study the structure of multi-loop amplitudes in the theory. In this paper we describe a remarkable fact revealed by these investigations: the integrand can be expressed in an amazingly simple and manifestly local form when represented in momentum-twistor space using a set of chiral integrals with unit leading singularities. …
We consider the recursion relation for loop integrands in planar N = 4 SYM generated by an all-line shift of momentum twistors. We examine the behaviour of the rational loop integrands when the shift parameter becomes large, and find that a valid recursion relation may be obtained in all cases. The recursion relation is then formulated both in region momentum space and in momentum twistor space, and solved in detail for some one and two-loop examples. Finally, we show that the general iterative solution of the recursion relation generates the MHV vertex expansion for all loop integrands, provi…
We obtain the planar correlation function of four half-BPS operators of arbitrary weights, up to three loops. Our method exploits only elementary properties of the integrand of the planar correlator, such as its symmetries and singularity structure. This allows us to write down a general ansatz for the integrand. The coefficients in the ansatz are fixed by means of a powerful light-cone OPE relation between correlators with different weights. Our result is formulated in terms of a limited number of functions built from known one-, two- and three-loop conformal integrals. These results are usef…
In this Letter, we provide evidence for a new double-copy structure in one-loop amplitudes of the open superstring. Their integrands with respect to the moduli space of genus-one surfaces are cast into a form where gauge-invariant kinematic factors and certain functions of the punctures -- so-called generalized elliptic integrands -- enter on completely symmetric footing. In particular, replacing the generalized elliptic integrands by a second copy of kinematic factors maps one-loop open-string correlators to gravitational matrix elements of the higher-curvature operator R^4.
We present a new, explicit formula for all tree-level amplitudes in N=4 super Yang-Mills. The formula is written as a certain contour integral of the connected prescription of Witten's twistor string, expressed in link variables. A very simple deformation of the integrand gives directly the Grassmannian integrand proposed by Arkani-Hamed et al. together with the explicit contour of integration. The integral is derived by iteratively adding particles to the Grassmannian integral, one particle at a time, and makes manifest both parity and soft limits. The formula is shown to be related to those …
Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院理论物理研究所）；School of Fundamental Physics and Mathematical Sciences, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study and ICTP-AP, UCAS（杭州高等研究院基础物理与数学学院，ICTP-AP，中国科学院大学）；Peng Huanwu Center for Fundamental Theory（彭桓武理论物理中心）；School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学物理科学学院）；Department of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics, University of Hertfordshire（赫特福德大学物理、天文与数学系）
Infrared divergences in scattering amplitudes arise when a loop momentum $\ell$ becomes collinear with a massless external momentum $p$. In gauge theories, it is known that the L-loop logarithm of a planar amplitude has much softer infrared singularities than the L-loop amplitude itself. We argue that planar amplitudes in N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory enjoy softer than expected behavior as $\ell \parallel p$ already at the level of the integrand. Moreover, we conjecture that the four-point integrand can be uniquely determined, to any loop-order, by imposing the correct soft-behavior of the logar…
We present a general method to account for full colour dependence Yang-Mills amplitudes at loop level. The method fits most naturally into the framework of multi-loop integrand reduction and in a nutshell amounts to consistently retaining the colour structures of the unitarity cuts from which the integrand is gradually constructed. This technique has already been used in the recent calculation of the two-loop five-gluon amplitude in pure Yang-Mills theory with all positive helicities, arXiv:1507.08797. In this note, we give a careful exposition of the method and discuss its connection to loop-…
We continue the study of the duality between super-correlators and scattering super-amplitudes in planar N=4 SYM. We provide a number of further examples supporting the conjectured duality relation between these two seemingly different objects. We consider the five- and six-point one-loop NMHV and the six-point tree-level NNMHV amplitudes, obtaining them from the appropriate correlators of strength tensor multiplets in N=4 SYM. In particular, we find exact agreement between the rather non-trivial parity-odd sector of the integrand of the six-point one-loop NMHV amplitude, as obtained from the …
We use the soft-collinear bootstrap to construct the 8-loop integrand for the 4-point amplitude and 4-stress-tensor correlation function in planar maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. Both have a unique representation in terms of planar, conformal integrands grouped according to a hidden symmetry discovered for correlation functions. The answer we find exposes a fundamental tension between manifest locality and planarity with manifest conformality not seen at lower loops. For the first time, the integrand must include terms that are finite even on-shell and terms that are divergent even…
We consider four-point correlation functions of protected single-trace scalar operators in planar N = 4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills (SYM). We conjecture that all loop corrections derive from an integrand which enjoys a ten-dimensional symmetry. This symmetry combines spacetime and R-charge transformations. By considering a 10D light-like limit, we extend the correlator/amplitude duality by equating large R-charge octagons with Coulomb branch scattering amplitudes. Using results from integrability, this predicts new finite amplitudes as well as some Feynman integrals.
The scattering amplitudes of planar N = 4 super-Yang-Mills exhibit a number of remarkable analytic structures, including dual conformal symmetry and logarithmic singularities of integrands. The amplituhedron is a geometric construction of the integrand that incorporates these structures. This geometric construction further implies the amplitude is fully specified by constraining it to vanish on spurious residues. By writing the amplitude in a dlog basis, we provide nontrivial evidence that these analytic properties and "zero conditions" carry over into the nonplanar sector. This suggests that …
We study the six-point NMHV ratio function in planar ${\cal N}=4$ SYM theory in the context of positive geometry. The Amplituhedron construction of the integrand for the amplitudes provides a kinematical region in which the integrand was observed to be positive. It is natural to conjecture that this property survives integration, i.e. that the final result for the ratio function is also positive in this region. Establishing such a result would imply that preserving positivity is a surprising property of the Minkowski contour of integration and it might indicate some deeper underlying structure…
Three-Loop Five-Point CK-Dual Amplitudes and UV Structure in N=4 SYM and N=8 SUGRA
Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院理论物理研究所）；School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学物理科学学院）；Center for High Energy Physics, Peking University（北京大学高能物理中心）；School of Fundamental Physics and Mathematical Sciences, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, UCAS（杭州高等研究院基础物理与数学学院）；Peng Huanwu Center for Fundamental Theory（彭桓武基本理论中心）
We give a closed-form, prescriptive representation of all-multiplicity two-loop MHV amplitude integrands in fully-color-dressed (non-planar) maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory.
We define a new geometry obtained from the all-loop amplituhedron in ${\cal N}=4$ SYM by reducing its four-dimensional external and loop momenta to three dimensions. Focusing on the simplest four-point case, we provide strong evidence that the canonical form of this ``reduced amplituhedron" gives the all-loop integrand of the ABJM four-point amplitude. In addition to various all-loop cuts manifested by the geometry, we present explicitly new results for the integrand up to five loops, which are much simpler than results in ${\cal N}=4$ SYM. One of the reasons for such all-loop simplifications …
Using the duality between color and kinematics, we construct two-loop four-point scattering amplitudes in $\mathcal{N}=2$ super-Yang-Mills (SYM) theory coupled to $N_f$ fundamental hypermultiplets. Our results are valid in $D\le 6$ dimensions, where the upper bound corresponds to six-dimensional chiral $\mathcal{N}=(1,0)$ SYM theory. By exploiting a close connection with $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM theory - and, equivalently, six-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=(1,1)$ SYM theory - we find compact integrands with four-dimensional external vectors in both the maximally-helicity-violating (MHV) and all-chiral-v…
We propose a strategy to study the analytic structure of Feynman parameter integrals where singularities of the integrand consist of rational irreducible components. At the core of this strategy is the identification of a selected stratum of discontinuities induced from the integral, together with a geometric method for computing their singularities on the principal sheet. For integrals that yield multiple polylogarithms we expect the data collected in this strategy to be sufficient for the construction of their symbols. We motivate this analysis by the Aomoto polylogarithms, and further check…
We initiate a comprehensive investigation of the geometry of the amplituhedron, a recently found geometric object whose volume calculates the integrand of scattering amplitudes in planar N=4 SYM theory. We do so by introducing and studying its stratification, focusing on four-point amplitudes. The new stratification exhibits interesting combinatorial properties and positivity is neatly captured by permutations. As explicit examples, we find all boundaries for the two and three loop amplitudes and related geometries. We recover the stratifications of some of these geometries from the singularit…
In this paper, we outline a method to compute supersymmetric one-loop integrands in ten-dimensional SYM theory. It relies on the constructive interplay between their cubic-graph organization and BRST invariance of the underlying pure spinor superstring description. The five- and six-point amplitudes are presented in a manifestly local form where the kinematic dependence is furnished by BRST-covariant expressions in pure spinor superspace. At five points, the local kinematic numerators are shown to satisfy the BCJ duality between color and kinematics leading to supergravity amplitudes as a bypr…
An on-shell formalism for the computation of S-matrices of SYM theories in three spacetime dimensions is presented. The framework is a generalization of the spinor-helicity formalism in four dimensions. The formalism is applied to establish the manifest SO(N) covariance of the on-shell superalgebra relevant to N =2,4 and 8 SYM theories in d=3. The results are then used to argue for the SO(N) invariance of the S-matrices of these theories: a claim which is proved explicitly for the four-particle scattering amplitudes. Recursion relations relating tree amplitudes of three-dimensional SYM theorie…
Supersymmetric integrands for the two-loop five-point amplitudes in ten-dimensional super Yang--Mills and type II supergravity are proposed. The kinematic numerators are manifestly local and satisfy the duality between color and kinematics described by Bern, Carrasco and Johansson. Our results are expected to reproduce the integrated two-loop amplitudes in dimensions $D<7$. The UV divergence in the critical dimension $D=7$ matches the low-energy limit of the corresponding superstring amplitudes and is written in terms of SYM tree amplitudes.
Tremendous ongoing theory efforts are dedicated to developing new methods for QCD calculations. Qualitative rather than incremental advances are needed to fully exploit data still to be collected at the LHC. The maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory (${\mathcal N}=4$ sYM) shares with QCD the gluon sector, which contains the most complicated Feynman graphs, but at the same time has many special properties, and is believed to be solvable exactly. It is natural to ask what we can learn from advances in ${\mathcal N}=4$ sYM for addressing difficult problems in QCD. With this in mind, we revie…
We take a major step towards computing $D$-dimensional one-loop amplitudes in general gauge theories, compatible with the principles of unitarity and the color-kinematics duality. For $n$-point amplitudes with either supersymmetry multiplets or generic non-supersymmetric matter in the loop, simple all-multiplicity expressions are obtained for the maximal cuts of kinematic numerators of $n$-gon diagrams. At $n=6,7$ points with maximal supersymmetry, we extend the cubic-diagram numerators to encode all contact terms, and thus solve the long-standing problem of \emph{simultaneously} realizing the…
We find that scattering amplitudes in massive scalar QCD can manifest the duality between color and kinematics at loop-level. Specifically we construct the one-loop integrands for four-point scattering between two distinct massive scalars, and the five-point process encoding the first correction to massive scalar scattering with gluonic radiation. We find that factorization and the color-kinematics duality are sufficient principles to entirely bootstrap these calculations, allowing us to construct all contributions ultimately from the three-point tree-level amplitudes which are themselves enti…
We present the general flux tube integrand for MHV and non-MHV amplitudes, in planar N = 4 SYM theory, up to a group theoretical rational factor. We find that the MHV and non-MHV cases only differ by simple form factors which we derive. This information allows us to run the operator product expansion program for all sorts of non-MHV amplitudes and to test the recently proposed map with the so called charged pentagons transitions. Perfect agreement is found, on a large sample of non-MHV amplitudes, with the perturbative data available in the literature.
We compute for the first time the two-loop five-particle amplitude in $\mathcal{N}=8$ supergravity. Starting from the known integrand, we perform an integration-by-parts reduction and express the answer in terms of uniform weight master integrals. The latter are known to evaluate to non-planar pentagon functions, described by a 31-letter symbol alphabet. We express the final result for the amplitude in terms of uniform weight four symbols, multiplied by a small set of rational factors. The amplitude satisfies the expected factorization properties when one external graviton becomes soft, and wh…
