The numerical unitarity approach has been important for obtaining reliable QCD predictions for the LHC. Here I discuss the extension of the approach beyond the leading quantum corrections for computing multi-loop amplitudes. The numerical unitarity approach requires a suitable parametrisation of the loop integrands as a sum of terms that integrate to zero (surface terms) and master integrands. The construction and classification of suitable surface terms which match the propagators structures of Feynman amplitudes is the main technical advance discussed. A number of spin-offs for integral reduction and further formal questions are briefly reviewed.
We point out that the $s$-channel unitarity of QCD imposes meaningful constraints on a possible form of the QCD Reggeon Field Theory. We show that neither the BFKL nor JIMWLK nor Braun's Hamiltonian satisfy the said constraints. In a toy, zero transverse dimensional case we construct a model that satisfies the analogous constraint and show that at infinite energy it indeed tends to a "black disk limit" as opposed to the model with triple Pomeron vertex only, routinely used as a toy model in the literature.
The unitarity condition for scattering amplitudes in a non-anticommutative quantum field theory is investigated. The Cutkosky rules are shown to hold for Feynman diagrams in Euclidean momentum space and unitarity of amplitudes can be satisfied. An analytic continuation of the diagrams to physical Minkowski spacetime can be performed without invoking unphysical singularities in amplitudes. The high energy behavior of amplitudes is found to be regular at infinity provided that only space-space non-anticommutativity is allowed.
In this letter, we exploit generalised unitarity in order to calculate the cut-constructible part of one-loop amplitudes in non-supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. In particular, we rederive the n-gluon MHV amplitudes for both the adjacent and non-adjacent gluon helicity configurations from 3- and 4-particle cuts alone.
We present advances in the development of the numerical unitarity method for the computation of multi-loop amplitudes in QCD. As an application, we show results for all the leading-color two-loop five-gluon helicity amplitudes. The amplitudes are reduced to a linear combination of master integrals by employing unitarity-compatible integration-by-parts identities, and the corresponding integral coefficients are computed in an exact manner on rational phase-space points through finite fields arithmetics.
We report on a technique for evaluating finite unitarity cut for one-loop amplitudes in gauge theories, and discuss its application to the cut-constructible part of six-gluon amplitude in QCD.
We show how generalised unitarity cuts in D = 4 - 2 epsilon dimensions can be used to calculate efficiently complete one-loop scattering amplitudes in non-supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. This approach naturally generates the rational terms in the amplitudes, as well as the cut-constructible parts. We test the validity of our method by re-deriving the one-loop ++++, -+++, --++, -+-+ and +++++ gluon scattering amplitudes using generalised quadruple cuts and triple cuts in D dimensions.
We present a calculation of the planar two-loop five-gluon amplitudes. The amplitudes are obtained in a variant of the generalized unitarity approach suitable for numerical computations, which we extend for use with finite field arithmetics. Employing a new method for the generation of unitarity-compatible integration-by-parts identities, all helicity amplitudes are reduced to a linear combination of master integrals for the first time. The approach allows us to compute exact values for the integral coefficients at rational phase-space points. All required master integrals are known analytical…
We show, for previously uncalculated examples containing a uniform mass in the loop, that it is possible to obtain complete massive one-loop gauge theory amplitudes solely from unitarity and known ultraviolet or infrared mass singularities. In particular, we calculate four-gluon scattering via massive quark loops in QCD. The contribution of a heavy quark to five-gluon scattering with identical helicities is also presented.
We present and numerically implement a computational method to construct relativistic scattering amplitudes that obey analyticity, crossing, elastic and inelastic unitarity in three and four spacetime dimensions. The algorithm is based on the Mandelstam representation of the amplitude and iterations of unitarity. The input for the iterative procedure is given by the multi-particle double spectral density, the S-wave inelasticity, and the value of the amplitude at the crossing-symmetric point. The output, obtained at the fixed point of the iteration of unitarity, is a nonperturbative scattering…
We present a technique which utilizes unitarity and collinear limits to construct ansatze for one-loop amplitudes in gauge theory. As an example, we obtain the one-loop contribution to amplitudes for $n$ gluon scattering in $N=4$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory with the helicity configuration of the Parke-Taylor tree amplitudes. We prove that our $N=4$ ansatz is correct using general properties of the relevant one-loop $n$-point integrals. We also give the ``splitting amplitudes'' which govern the collinear behavior of one-loop helicity amplitudes in gauge theories.
We present the first numerical computation of two-loop amplitudes based on the unitarity method. As a proof of principle, we compute the four-gluon process. We discuss the new method, analyze its numerical properties and apply it to reconstruct the analytic form of the amplitudes. The numerical method is universal, and can be automated to provide multi-scale two-loop computations for phenomenologically relevant signatures at hadron colliders.
We present an alternative reduction to master integrals for one-loop amplitudes using a unitarity cut method in arbitrary dimensions. We carry out the reduction in two steps. The first step is a pure four-dimensional cut-integration of tree amplitudes with a mass parameter, and the second step is applying dimensional shift identities to master integrals. This reduction is performed at the integrand level, so that coefficients can be read out algebraically.
We present the first public version of Caravel, a C++17 framework for the computation of multi-loop scattering amplitudes in quantum field theory, based on the numerical unitarity method. Caravel is composed of modules for the $D$-dimensional decomposition of integrands of scattering amplitudes into master and surface terms, the computation of tree-level amplitudes in floating point or finite-field arithmetic, the numerical computation of one- and two-loop amplitudes in QCD and Einstein gravity, and functional reconstruction tools. We provide programs that showcase Caravel's main functionaliti…
The high energy limit of QCD is investigated in the generalized leading logarithmic approximation. We study unitarity corrections to the BFKL Pomeron containing t-channel states with up to six gluons. Special attention is given to the field theory structure of the corresponding multi-gluon amplitudes. We discuss the transition from two to six gluons in the t-channel.
It is well known that under the color-decomposition, one-loop amplitude of gluons contains partial amplitudes of single and double trace structures, and particularly all partial amplitudes of double trace structure can be expressed as a linear combination of partial amplitudes of single trace structure. Using unitarity cut method, we prove that this result is the natural consequence of tree-level Kleiss-Kuijf relation. Generalizing the unitarity cut method to two-loop (triple cut in this case), we show that, unlike the one-loop case, partial amplitudes of double and triple trace structures can…
Using the analytic properties of two-point functions in QCD, as well as unitarity, bounds on the B meson form factor F(q^2) can be derived. Heavy quark spin symmetry, correctly taken into account, is shown to improve these bounds significantly.
We explain how one-loop amplitudes with massive fermions can be computed using only on-shell information. We first use the spinor-helicity formalism in six dimensions to perform generalised unitarity cuts in $d$ dimensions. We then show that divergent wavefunction cuts can be avoided, and the remaining ambiguities in the renormalised amplitudes can be fixed, by matching to universal infrared poles in $4-2ε$ dimensions and ultraviolet poles in $6-2ε$ dimensions. In the latter case we construct an effective Lagrangian in six dimensions and reduce the additional constraint to an on-shell tree-lev…
We describe the recently developed on-shell bootstrap for computing one-loop amplitudes in non-supersymmetric theories such as QCD. The method combines the unitarity method with loop-level on-shell recursion. The unitarity method is used to compute cut-containing parts of amplitudes, and on-shell recursion is used for the remaining rational terms.
We study the three-particle and four-particle scattering amplitudes for an arbitrary, finite number of massive scalars, spinors and vectors by employing the on-shell massive spinor formalism. We consider the most general three-particle amplitudes with energy growing behavior at most of $\mathcal{O} (E)$. This is the special case of the requirement of tree unitarity, which states that the $N$-particle scattering amplitudes at tree-level should grow at most as $\mathcal{O} (E^{4-N})$ in the high energy hard scattering limit, i.e. at fixed non-zero angles. Then the factorizable parts of the four-…
We compute the leading color, next-to-leading order QCD corrections to the dominant partonic channels for the production of a W boson in association with three jets at the Tevatron and the LHC. This is the first application of generalized unitarity for realistic one-loop calculations. The method performs well in this non-trivial test and offers great promise for the future.
Any loop QCD amplitude at full colour is constructed from kinematic and gauge-group building blocks. In a unitarity-based on-shell framework, both objects can be reconstructed from their respective counterparts in tree-level amplitudes. This procedure is at its most powerful when aligned with flexible colour decompositions of tree-level QCD amplitudes. In this note we derive such decompositions for amplitudes with an arbitrary number of quarks and gluons from the same principle that is used to bootstrap kinematics - unitarity factorisation. In the process we formulate new multi-quark bases and…
We discuss new techniques developed in recent years for performing one-loop calculations in QCD, and present an example of results from the process 0 -> V q q-bar g g. Talk presented at the 1996 Zeuthen Workshop on Elementary Particle Theory, "QCD and QED in Higher Order", Rheinsberg, Brandenburg, April 21-26, 1996.
Scattering amplitudes in QCD exhibit a definite RG flow with energy towards the unitarity limit. In this paper we put forward an evolution equation which allows one to modify continuously the pre-asymptotic RG flow towards "saturation" of Wilson line correlators. It preserves the linearly unstable zero field fixed point and the unitarity limit attractor. We present the evolution equations in a form suitable for efficient numerical solution. Hence, the proposed evolution equation in principle permits phenomenological comparisons of our incorrect pre-asymptotic RG flows to the BK/JIMWLK flow of …
Here we discuss color-kinematics duality for higher-derivative QCD-like amplitudes. We explicitly show that the duality still holds in this case and it can be instrumental in constructing the associated quadratic-gravity amplitudes by using the double-copy prescription. This allows one to drastically simplify calculations. We also evaluate some tree-level Compton scattering amplitudes in higher-derivative Yang-Mills and quadratic gravity coupled with matter. Furthermore, we illustrate the application of generalized unitarity method for both cases by studying a specific one-loop amplitude.
We combine the six-dimensional helicity formalism of Cheung and O'Connell with D-dimensional generalized unitarity to obtain a new formalism for computing one-loop amplitudes in dimensionally regularized QCD. With this procedure, we simultaneously obtain the pieces that are constructible from four-dimensional unitarity cuts and the rational pieces that are missed by them, while retaining a helicity formalism. We illustrate the procedure using four- and five-point one-loop amplitudes in QCD, including examples with external fermions. We also demonstrate the technique's effectiveness in next-to-…
We compute a complete set of independent leading-color two-loop five-parton amplitudes in QCD. These constitute a fundamental ingredient for the next-to-next-to-leading order QCD corrections to three-jet production at hadron colliders. We show how to consistently consider helicity amplitudes with external fermions in dimensional regularization, allowing the application of a numerical variant of the unitarity approach. Amplitudes are computed by exploiting a decomposition of the integrand into master and surface terms that is independent of the parton type. Master integral coefficients are nume…
In theories with unstable particles, unitarity is satisfied by the inclusion of only stable states in unitarity sums. Hence unitarity cuts are not to be taken through unstable particles. This raises a challenge to the generalized unitarity method, whose aim is to reconstruct amplitudes by analyzing sets of unitarity cuts. Nevertheless, under some general physical conditions, and perhaps some methodological modifications, we prove that the method is still reliable for one-loop amplitudes containing resonances. We discuss some simple examples which illustrate these features.
We regularize QCD using the combination of higher covariant derivatives and Pauli-Villars determinants proposed by Slavnov. It is known that for pure Yang-Mills theory the Pauli-Villars determinants generate unphysical logarithmic radiative corrections at one loop that modify the beta function. Here we prove that when the gauge fields are coupled to fermions so that one has QCD, these unphysical corrections translate into a violation of unitarity. We provide an understanding of this by seeing that Slavnov's choice for the Pauli-Villars determinants introduces extra propagating degrees of freed…
The unitarity method for calculating one-loop amplitudes provides algorithms of polynomial complexity. This is primarily beneficial for the computation of multi-leg one loop amplitudes and it is therefore of great interest to develop a numerical implementation of the unitarity method. We describe a recently-developed, efficient, semi-numerical unitarity method for the computation of the cut-constructible part of one-loop amplitudes.
Further developing ideas set forth in \cite{KLL}, we discuss QCD Reggeon Field Theory (RFT) and formulate restrictions imposed on its Hamiltonian by the unitarity of underlying QCD. We identify explicitly the QCD RFT Hilbert space, provide algebra of the basic degrees of freedom (Wilson lines and their duals) and the algorithm for calculating the scattering amplitudes. We formulate conditions imposed on the "Fock states" of RFT by unitary nature of QCD, and explain how these constraints appear as unitarity constraints on possible RFT hamiltonians that generate energy evolution of scattering am…
We show that one-loop amplitudes in massless gauge theories can be determined from single cuts. By cutting a single propagator and putting it on-shell, the integrand of an n-point one-loop integral is transformed into an (n+2)-particle tree level amplitude. The single-cut approach described here is complementary to the double or multiple unitarity cut approaches commonly used in the literature. In common with these approaches, if the cut is taken in four dimensions, one finds only the cut-constructible parts of the amplitude, while if the cut is in D=4-2 epsilon dimensions, both rational and c…
When calculating next-to-leading order QCD cross sections, divergences in intermediate steps of the calculation must be regularized. The final result is independent of the regularization scheme used, provided that it is unitary. In this paper we explore the relationship between regularization scheme independence and unitarity. We show how the regularization scheme dependence can be isolated in simple universal components, and how unitarity can be guaranteed for any regularization prescription that can consistently be introduced in one-loop amplitudes. Finally, we show how to derive transition …
A method of deriving bounds on the weak meson form factors, based on perturbative QCD, analyticity and unitarity, is generalized in order to fully exploit heavy quark spin symmetry in the ground state $(L=0)$ doublet of pseudoscalar $(B)$ and vector $(B^*)$ mesons. All the relevant form factors of these mesons are taken into account in the unitarity sum. They are treated as independent functions along the timelike axis, being related by spin symmetry only near the zero recoil point. Heavy quark vacuum polarisation up to three loops in perturbative QCD and the experimental cross sections $σ(e^+…
QCD Scattering Amplitudes and Prescriptive Unitarity
Max-Planck-Institut für Physik（马克斯·普朗克物理研究所）；LAPTh, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS（萨瓦蒙布朗大学国家科学研究中心理论物理实验室）；Interdisciplinary Center for Theoretical Study, University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学理论中心）；Peng Huanwu Center for Fundamental Theory（彭桓武理论基础研究中心）；Center for High Energy Physics, Peking University（北京大学高能物理中心）
We review on-shell and unitarity methods and discuss their application to precision predictions for LHC physics. Being universal and numerically robust, these methods are straight-forward to automate for next-to-leading-order computations within Standard Model and beyond. Several state-of-the-art results including studies of W/Z+3-jet and W+4-jet production have explicitly demonstrated the effectiveness of the unitarity method for describing multi-parton scattering. Here we review central ideas needed to obtain efficient numerical implementations. This includes on-shell loop-level recursions, …
We study the unitarity bounds of the scattering amplitudes in the extra dimensional gauge theory where the gauge symmetry is broken by the boundary condition. The estimation of the amplitude of the diagram including four massive gauge bosons in the external lines shows that the asymptotic power behavior of the amplitude is canceled. The calculation will be done in the 5 dimensional standard model and the SU(5) grand unified theory, whose 5th dimensional coordinate is compactified on $S^1/Z_2$. The broken gauge theories through the orbifolding preserve the unitarity at high energies similarly t…
We review the Four-Dimensional-Formulation variant of the Four-Dimensional-Helicity scheme, by showing two applications of this regularisation scheme. The first one is the computation of one-loop helicity amplitudes, for which we present preliminary results for the analytic expressions of the one-loop Higgs plus five- gluon amplitudes. In the second part, we study the Colour-Kinematics duality for off-shell diagrams in gauge theories coupled to matter, showing in a diagrammatic way that the Jacobi relations for the kinematic numerators of off-shell diagrams, built with Feynman rules in axial g…
We investigate the derivation of reggeon transition vertices from Lipatov's gauge invariant effective action for high energy processes in QCD. In particular we address the question of longitudinal integrations in order to reduce the vertices into the required purely transverse form. We explicitly derive the BFKL-kernel and verify vanishing of the 2-to-3 reggeon transition vertex. First results on the derivation of the 2-to-4 reggeon transition vertex are discussed.
We combine the unitarity method with the six-dimensional helicity formalism of Cheung and O'Connell to construct loop-level scattering amplitudes. As a first example, we construct dimensionally regularized QCD one-loop four-point amplitudes. As a nontrivial multiloop example, we confirm that the recently constructed four-loop four-point amplitude of N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory, including nonplanar contributions, is valid for dimensions less than or equal to six. We comment on the connection of our approach to the recently discussed Higgs infrared regulator and on dual conformal properties in s…
Theoretical and computational advances in lattice calculations are reviewed, with focus on examples relevant to the unitarity triangle of the CKM matrix. Recent progress in semi-leptonic form factors for B -> pi l nu and B -> D* l nu, as well as the parameter ξin B-Bbar mixing, are highlighted.
We describe the unitarity approach for the numerical computation of two-loop integral coefficients of scattering amplitudes. It is well known that the leading propagator singularities of an amplitude's integrand are related to products of tree amplitudes. At two loops, Feynman diagrams with doubled propagators appear naturally, which lead to subleading pole contributions. In general, it is not known how these contributions can be directly expressed in terms of a product of on-shell tree amplitudes. We present a universal algorithm to extract these subleading pole terms by releasing some of the…
A method to separate pentagon contributions from the evaluation of the cut constructible part of primitive amplitudes within the framework of D-dimensional unitarity is proposed. The cut constructible part is thus reconstructed with significantly higher accuracy as demonstrated by the numerical analysis presented here.
A spontaneously broken SU(2) theory is the simplest generalization of the Abelian Higgs model, containing three equally massive vector bosons and a single Higgs scalar. A strictly diagrammatic proof is presented of the tree-level unitarity of this model in the unitary gauge, i.e. employing only physical fields. A new Ward-like identity is used to show that the high-energy behaviour of all amplitudes cannot be more than quadratic; the use of generating functions for all off-shell amplitudes then leads to the unitarity proof.
From the low-energy effective theory of dilatons, consistent with the scale anomaly, we calculate the $2\to2$ scattering amplitudes of dilatons. We find that the one-loop amplitude violates the unitarity bound as the scattering energy approaches the cutoff of the effective theory, $\sqrt{s}=\sqrt{4π} f_D$. We then show that the inclusion of the next-to-lightest state, namely the spin-2 state, of mass around the cutoff improves the unitarity. The unitarity argument suggests that the mass ratio of the dilaton and the spin-2 state is proportional to the square of the Miransky-BKT scaling of the n…
The Abelian Higgs model forms an essential part of the electroweak standard model: it is the sector containing only Z and Higgs bosons. We present a diagram-based proof of the tree-level unitarity of this model inside the unitary gauge, where only physical degrees of freedom occur. We derive combinatorial recursion relations for off-shell amplitudes in the massless approximation, which allows us to prove the cancellation of the first two orders in energy of unitarity-violating high-energy behaviour for any tree-level amplitude in this model. We describe a deformation of the amplitudes by exten…
We present a novel set of Feynman rules and generalised unitarity cut-conditions for computing one-loop amplitudes via d-dimensional integrand reduction algorithm. Our algorithm is suited for analytic as well as numerical result, because all ingredients turn out to have a four-dimensional representation. We will apply this formalism to NLO QCD corrections.
We present a direct computation of the full color two-loop five-point all-plus Yang-Mills amplitude using four dimensional unitarity and recursion. We present the $SU(N_c)$ amplitudes in compact analytic forms. Our results match the explicit expressions previously computed but do not require full two-loop integral methods.
We establish that unitarity of scattering amplitudes imposes universal entropy bounds. The maximal entropy of a self-sustained quantum field object of radius R is equal to its surface area and at the same time to the inverse running coupling evaluated at the scale R. The saturation of these entropy bounds is in one-to-one correspondence with the non-perturbative saturation of unitarity by 2-to-N particle scattering amplitudes at the point of optimal truncation. These bounds are more stringent than Bekenstein's bound and in a consistent theory all three get saturated simultaneously. This is tru…
We present a calculation of the rational terms in two-loop all-plus gluon amplitudes using $D$-dimensional unitarity. We use a conjecture of separability of the two loops, and then a simple generalization of one-loop $D$-dimensional unitarity to perform calculations. We compute the four- and five-point rational terms analytically, and the six- and seven-point ones numerically. We find agreement with previous calculations of Dalgleish, Dunbar, Godwin, Jehu, Perkins, and Strong. For a special subleading-color amplitude, we compute the eight- and nine-point results numerically, and find agreement…
We calculate all the four-photon helicity amplitudes at the one-loop level in a massive theory using multiple-cut methods. The amplitudes are derived in scalar QED, QED and $\textrm{QED}^{\caln =1}$ theories. We will see the origin of rational terms. We extend the calculation to the simplest six-photon helicity amplitude where all photons have the same helicity.
We present a broad study of collider processes that embed $2 \to 2$ scattering amplitudes involving top quarks in the Electroweak sector. We parametrise the modified interactions using the Standard Model Effective Field Theory framework and discuss how the New Physics effects lead to unitarity violating behaviour at the amplitude level. For each scattering amplitude we compute the helicity amplitudes in the high energy limit paying special attention to the effects of the higher dimensional operators. We also discuss whether and to what extent the unitarity violating effects are retained in phy…
We present a set of relations between one-loop integral coefficients for dimensionally regulated QCD amplitudes. Within dimensional regularization, the combined use of color-kinematics duality and integrand reduction yields the existence of relations between the integrand residues of partial amplitudes with different orderings of the external particles. These relations can be established for the cut-constructible contributions as well for the ones responsible for rational terms. Starting from the general parametrization of one-loop residues and applying Laurent expansion in order to extract th…
This article reviews on-shell methods for analytic computation of loop amplitudes, emphasizing techniques based on unitarity cuts. Unitarity techniques are formulated generally but have been especially useful for calculating one-loop amplitudes in massless theories such as Yang-Mills theory, QCD, and QED.
A new effective action for the high energy quark-quark scatterings is obtained by applying a scaling approximation to the QCD action. The propagators are shown to factorize into the transverse and the longitudinal parts so that the scattering amplitudes are given in terms of the products of two dimensional $S$-matrices. we show that our action provides a natural effective field theory for the Lipatov's theory of quark scatterings with quasi-elastic unitarity. The amplitude with quasi-elastic unitarity obtained from this action shows `Regge' behavior and is eikonalized.
