We present new triangulations of the $m=4$ amplituhedron relevant for scattering amplitudes in planar $\mathcal{N}=4$ super-Yang-Mills, obtained directly from the combinatorial definition of the geometry. Using the "sign flip" characterization of the amplituhedron, we reproduce the canonical forms for the all-multiplicity next-to-maximally helicity violating (NMHV) and next-to-next-to-maximally helicity violating ($\text{N}^2$MHV) tree-level as well as the NMHV one-loop cases, without using any input from traditional amplitudes methods. Our results provide strong evidence for the equivalence of the original definition of the amplituhedron \cite{Arkani-Hamed:2013jha} and the topological one \cite{Arkani-Hamed:2017vfh}, and suggest a new path forward for computing higher loop amplitudes geometrically. In particular, we realize the NMHV one-loop amplituhedron as the intersection of two amplituhedra of lower dimensionality, which is reflected in the novel structure of the corresponding canonical form.
In this paper, we consider the triangulation of 2-loop MHV amplituhedron from "sign flip" definition. Using the isomorphism between $m=2, k=2$ tree amplituhedron and 1-loop MHV physical amplituhedron, we found the direct triangulation of 2-loop MHV amplituhedron from sign flip. This triangulation is different from the BCFW triangulation because of the structure of the cells. And we also found a formula of the canonical form of $n$-point 2-loop MHV amplituhedron. This formula looks like a 2-loop version of the Kermit representation of 1-loop MHV amplitude. We checked that the sum of these cells…
Faculty of Mathematics, Technion（理学院，以色列理工学院）；Institute of Mathematics, University of Zürich（数学研究所，苏黎世大学）；Department of Mathematics, Weizmann Institute of Science（数学系，魏茨曼科学研究所）
This article introduces a new approach to implement positivity for the 2-loop n-particle MHV amplituhedron, circumventing the conventional triangulation with respect to positive variables of each cell carved out by the sign flips. This approach is universal for all linear positive conditions and hence free of case-by-case triangulation, as an application of the trick of positive infinity first introduced in 1910.14612 for the multi-loop 4-particle amplituhedron. Moreover, the proof of 2-loop n-particle MHV amplituhedron in 1812.01822 is revised, and we explain the nontriviality and difficulty …
We initiate the systematic study of \emph{local positive spaces} which arise in the context of the Amplituhedron construction for scattering amplitudes in planar maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. We show that all local positive spaces relevant for one-loop MHV amplitudes are characterized by certain sign-flip conditions and are associated with surprisingly simple logarithmic forms. In the maximal sign-flip case they are finite one-loop octagons. Particular combinations of sign-flip spaces can be glued into new local positive geometries. These correspond to local pentagon integrands t…
The tree amplituhedra $\mathcal{A}_{n,k}^{(m)}$ are mathematical objects generalising the notion of polytopes into the Grassmannian. Proposed for $m=4$ as a geometric construction encoding tree-level scattering amplitudes in planar $\mathcal{N}=4$ super Yang-Mills theory, they are mathematically interesting for any $m$. In this paper we strengthen the relation between scattering amplitudes and geometry by linking the amplituhedron to the Jeffrey-Kirwan residue, a powerful concept in symplectic and algebraic geometry. We focus on a particular class of amplituhedra in any dimension, namely cycli…
The geometry of the dual amplituhedron is generally described in reference to a particular triangulation. A given triangulation manifests only certain aspects of the underlying space while obscuring others, therefore understanding this geometry without reference to a particular triangulation is desirable. In this note we introduce a new formalism for computing the volumes of general polytopes in any dimension. We define new "vertex objects" and introduce a calculus for expressing volumes of polytopes in terms of them. These expressions are unique, independent of any triangulation, manifestly d…
It has been recently conjectured that scattering amplitudes in planar N=4 super Yang-Mills are given by the volume of the (dual) amplituhedron. In this paper we show some interesting connections between the tree-level amplituhedron and a special class of differential equations. In particular we demonstrate how the amplituhedron volume for NMHV amplitudes is determined by these differential equations. The new formulation allows for a straightforward geometric description, without any reference to triangulations. Finally we discuss possible implications for volumes related to generic N^kMHV ampl…
The (tree) amplituhedron $\mathcal A_{n,k,m}(Z)$ is a certain subset of the Grassmannian introduced by Arkani-Hamed and Trnka in 2013 in order to study scattering amplitudes in $N=4$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. Confirming a conjecture of the first author, we show that when $m$ is even, a collection of affine permutations yields a triangulation of $\mathcal A_{n,k,m}(Z)$ for any $Z\in \operatorname{Gr}_{>0}(k+m,n)$ if and only if the collection of their inverses yields a triangulation of $\mathcal A_{n,n-m-k,m}(Z)$ for any $Z\in\operatorname{Gr}_{>0}(n-k,n)$. We prove this duality using t…
We initiate a detailed investigation into the assembly of simple amplituhedron-like building blocks to obtain spaces of physical interest. In particular, we describe the geometric process through which the building blocks, which we call positivity sectors, glue together to form the desired geometries. Positivity sectors are seen to naturally segment the space describing the Lth power of the one-loop amplitude. In this way, we obtain a good understanding of how the geometric complexity of the building blocks can be washed out in the formation of larger spaces. Conversely, the tools we develop a…
Describing the geometry of the dual amplituhedron without reference to a particular triangulation is an open problem. In this note we introduce a new way of determining the volume of the tree-level NMHV dual amplituhedron. We show that certain contour integrals of logarithms serve as natural building blocks for computing this volume as well as the volumes of general polytopes in any dimension. These building blocks encode the geometry of the underlying polytopes in a triangulation-independent way, and make identities between different representations of the amplitudes manifest.
In this paper, we introduce the momentum space amplituhedron for tree-level scattering amplitudes of ABJM theory. We demonstrate that the scattering amplitude can be identified as the canonical form on the space given by the product of positive orthogonal Grassmannian and the moment curve. The co-dimension one boundaries of this space are simply the odd-particle planar Mandelstam variables, while the even-particle counterparts are "hidden" as higher co-dimension boundaries. Remarkably, this space can be equally defined through a series of "sign flip" requirements of the projected external data…
Following~\cite{Arkani-Hamed:2017thz}, we derive a recursion relation by applying a one-parameter deformation of kinematic variables for tree-level scattering amplitudes in bi-adjoint $ϕ^3$ theory. The recursion relies on properties of the amplitude that can be made manifest in the underlying kinematic associahedron, and it provides triangulations for the latter. Furthermore, we solve the recursion relation and present all-multiplicity results for the amplitude: by reformulating the associahedron in terms of its vertices, it is given explicitly as a sum of "volume" of simplicies for any triang…
The definition of the amplituhedron in terms of sign flips involves both one-loop constraints and the "mutual positivity" constraint. To gain an understanding of the all-loop integrand of $\mathcal{N}=4$ sYM requires understanding the crucial role played by mutual positivity. This paper is an attempt towards developing a procedure to introduce the complexities of mutual positivity in a systematic and controlled manner. As the first step in this procedure, we trivialize these constraints and understand the geometry underlying the remaining constraints to all loops and multiplicities. We present…
Inspired by the topological sign-flip definition of the Amplituhedron, we introduce similar, but distinct, positive geometries relevant for one-loop scattering amplitudes in planar $\mathcal{N}=4$ super Yang-Mills theory. The simplest geometries are those with the maximal number of sign flips, and turn out to be associated with chiral octagons previously studied in the context of infrared (IR) finite, pure and dual conformal invariant local integrals. Our result bridges two different themes of the modern amplitudes program: positive geometry and Feynman integrals.
Any totally positive $(k+m)\times n$ matrix induces a map $π_+$ from the positive Grassmannian ${\rm Gr}_+(k,n)$ to the Grassmannian ${\rm Gr}(k,k+m)$, whose image is the amplituhedron $\mathcal{A}_{n,k,m}$ and is endowed with a top-degree form called the canonical form ${\bfΩ}(\mathcal{A}_{n,k,m})$. This construction was introduced by Arkani-Hamed and Trnka, where they showed that ${\bfΩ}(\mathcal{A}_{n,k,4})$ encodes scattering amplitudes in $\mathcal{N}=4$ super Yang-Mills theory. Moreover, the computation of ${\bfΩ}(\mathcal{A}_{n,k,m})$ is reduced to finding the triangulations of $\mathca…
In this paper, we present new expressions for n-point NMHV tree-level gravity amplitudes. We introduce a method of factorization diagrams which is a simple graphical representation of R-invariants in Yang-Mills theory. We define the gravity analogues which we call G-invariants, and expand the NMHV gravity amplitudes in terms of these objects. We provide explicit formulas of NMHV gravity amplitudes up to eight points in terms of G-invariants, and give the general definition for any number of points. We discuss the connection to BCFW representation, special behavior under large momentum shift, t…
