Recently we discussed how Einstein supergravity tree amplitudes might be obtained from the original Witten and Berkovits twistor-string theory when external conformal gravitons are restricted to be Einstein gravitons. Here we obtain a more systematic understanding of the relationship between conformal and Einstein gravity amplitudes in that twistor-string theory. We show that although it does not in general yield Einstein amplitudes, we can nevertheless obtain some partial twistor-string interpretation of the remarkable formulae recently been found by Hodges and generalized to all tree amplitudes by Cachazo and Skinner. The Hodges matrix and its higher degree generalizations encode the world sheet correlators of the twistor string. These matrices control both Einstein amplitudes and those of the conformal gravity arising from the Witten and Berkovits twistor-string. Amplitudes in the latter case arise from products of the diagonal elements of the generalized Hodges matrices and reduced determinants give the former. The reduced determinants arise if the contractions in the worldsheet correlator are restricted to form connected trees at MHV. The (generalized) Hodges matrices arise as weighted Laplacian matrices for the graph of possible contractions in the correlators and the reduced determinants of these weighted Laplacian matrices give the sum of of the connected tree contributions by an extension of the Matrix-Tree theorem.
This paper presents a covariant twistor string model in four dimensions coupled to two-dimensional worldsheet gravity with an anomaly-free BRST charge. The model contains two twistors and two fermionic bi-spinors with incidence related gauge symmetries and an SU(2) gauge symmetry between the twistors. It is shown that the model leads to familiar gravitational N$^k$MHV amplitudes and has modular-invariant one-loop amplitudes.
The recently introduced anomaly-free twistor string in four dimensions is shown to be defined not just in flat but also in curved twistor space. Further, arguments are given that the classical limit of the corresponding string field theory, if it exists, is related to general relativity, in particular to the Isenberg and Yasskin construction using teleparallel gravity. For spacetimes of Petrov type D with two shear-free null congruences the construction can be simplified using two-dimensional twistor manifolds.
The recently introduced anomaly-free twistor string in 4 dimensions is further explored. The spectrum based on the physical states and its Minkowski interpretation are examined. Scattering amplitudes with vertex operators involving gravitons and fermions are computed and are compared with Einstein-Yang-Mills amplitudes. Tree and one-loop scattering amplitudes are shown to have proper unitary factorization properties. Finally a string field theory is proposed.
We give a brief review of the twistor string approach to supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories with an emphasis on the different formulations of (super)string models in supertwistor space and their superspace form. We discuss the classical equivalence among the Siegel closed twistor string and the Lorentz harmonics formulation of the (N=4) tensionless superstring, and notice the possible relation of the twistor string to the D=10 Green-Schwarz superstring action, as well as to models in the enlarged, tensorial superspaces that are relevant in higher spin theories.
Ingoing and outgoing principal null geodesics in Kerr spacetimes are characterized as part of parametrized families of strings in complex Kerr geometry and are associated with holomorphic curves in twistor space with help of the Kerr theorem. They are defined on 2-dimensional twistor manifolds, one for outgoing and one for ingoing principal null congruences, and are solutions of free twistor string models on these 2-dimensional twistor manifolds. Such a twistor string model implies a conformal field theory and, assuming the applicability of the Cardy formula, agreement with the Bekenstein-Hawk…
We study the multiparticle factorization properties of two worldsheet theories which--at tree-level--describe the scattering of massless particles in four dimensions: the Berkovits-Witten twistor-string for N=4 super-Yang-Mills coupled to N=4 conformal supergravity, and the Skinner twistor-string for N=8 supergravity. By considering these string-like theories, we can study factorization at the level of the worldsheet before any Wick contractions or integrals have been performed; this is much simpler than considering the factorization properties of the amplitudes themselves. In Skinner's twisto…
We review aspects of twistor theory, its aims and achievements spanning thelast five decades. In the twistor approach, space--time is secondary with events being derived objects that correspond to compact holomorphic curves in a complex three--fold -- the twistor space. After giving an elementary construction of this space we demonstrate how solutions to linear and nonlinear equations of mathematical physics: anti-self-duality (ASD) equations on Yang--Mills, or conformal curvature can be encoded into twistor cohomology. These twistor correspondences yield explicit examples of Yang--Mills, and …
It is shown that similarly to massless superparticle, classical global symmetry of the Berkovits twistor string action is infinite-dimensional. We identify its superalgebra, whose finite-dimensional subalgebra contains $psl(4|4,\mathbb R)$ superalgebra. In quantum theory this infinite-dimensional symmetry breaks down to $SL(4|4,\mathbb R)$ one.
We develop ambitwistor string theories for 4 dimensions to obtain new formulae for tree-level gauge and gravity amplitudes with arbitrary amounts of supersymmetry. Ambitwistor space is the space of complex null geodesics in complexified Minkowski space, and in contrast to earlier ambitwistor strings, we use twistors rather than vectors to represent this space. Although superficially similar to the original twistor string theories of Witten, Berkovits and Skinner, these theories differ in the assignment of worldsheet spins of the fields, rely on both twistor and dual twistor representatives for…
Ambitwistor strings are chiral (holomorphic) strings whose target is the space of complex null geodesics, ambitwistor space. We introduce twistor representations of ambitwistor space in 6 and 5 dimensions. In 6d the twistor representation is naturally conformally invariant. Anomaly cancellation leads to models that describe biadjoint scalar amplitudes and certain conformally invariant gauge and gravity theories, respectively of 4$^{\rm th}$ and 6$^{\rm th}$ order. There are three such models, reflecting triality for the conformal group SO(8) associated to these 6d models. On reduction to five …
