We describe a family of tropical fans related to Grassmannian cluster algebras. These fans are related to the kinematic space of massless scattering processes in a number of ways. For each fan associated to the Grassmannian ${\rm Gr}(k,n)$ there is a notion of a generalised $ϕ^3$ amplitude and an associated set of scattering equations which further generalise the ${\rm Gr}(k,n)$ scattering equations that have been recently introduced. Here we focus mostly on the cases related to finite Grassmannian cluster algebras and we explain how face variables for the cluster polytopes are simply related to the scattering equations. For the Grassmannians ${\rm Gr}(4,n)$ the tropical fans we describe are related to the singularities (or symbol letters) of loop amplitudes in planar $\mathcal{N}=4$ super Yang-Mills theory. We show how each choice of tropical fan leads to a natural class of polylogarithms, generalising the notion of cluster adjacency and we describe how the currently known loop data fit into this classification.
We address the appearance of algebraic singularities in the symbol alphabet of scattering amplitudes in the context of planar $\mathcal{N}=4$ super Yang-Mills theory. We argue that connections between cluster algebras and tropical geometry provide a natural language for postulating a finite alphabet for scattering amplitudes beyond six and seven points where the corresponding Grassmannian cluster algebras are finite. As well as generating natural finite sets of letters, the tropical fans we discuss provide letters containing square roots. Remarkably, the minimal fan we consider provides all th…
We provide a cluster-algebraic approach to the computation of the recently introduced generalised biadjoint scalar amplitudes related to Grassmannians ${\rm Gr}(k,n)$. A finite cluster algebra provides a natural triangulation for the tropical Grassmannian whose volume computes the scattering amplitudes. Using this method one can construct the entire colour-ordered amplitude via mutations starting from a single term.
We study tropical Grassmanians Tr$(k,n)$ in relation to cluster algebras, and assess their applicability to $n$-particle amplitudes for $n=7,8$. In $\mathcal{N}=4$ super Yang-Mills theory, we first show that while the totally positive part of Tr$(4,7)$ may encompass the iterated discontinuity structure of the seven-point Maximally Helicity Violating (MHV) amplitude, it is too small for the Next-to-MHV helicity configuration. Then, using Tr$(4,8)$ we propose a finite set of 356 cluster $\mathcal{A}$-coordinates expected to contain the rational symbol letters of the eight-particle MHV amplitude,…
We further exploit the relation between tropical Grassmannians and $\operatorname{Gr}(4,n)$ cluster algebras in order to make and refine predictions for the singularities of scattering amplitudes in $\mathcal{N}=4$ planar super Yang-Mills theory at higher multiplicity $n\ge 8$. As a mathematical foundation that provides access to square-root symbol letters in principle for any $n$, we analyse infinite mutation sequences in cluster algebras with general coefficients. First specialising our analysis to the eight-particle amplitude, and comparing it with a recent, closely related approach based o…
We study the soft limit of a recently proposed generalization of the biadjoint scalar amplitudes $m^{(k)}_{n}$, which have been conjectured to have a relation to the tropical Grassmannian $\text{Tr G}(k,n)$. Using the CHY formulation along with the Global Residue Theorem, we prove the soft factorization for $m^{(k)}_{n}$ amplitudes for arbitrary $k$ and $n$. We find that the soft factors are in direct correspondence to vertices of the associahedron $\mathcal{A}_{k-1}$, and hence take the form of $m^{(2)}_{n}$ amplitudes. This entails that all scattering amplitudes of the ordinary biadjoint sca…
In this work, we argue that the $α'\to 0$ limit of closed string theory scattering amplitudes is a tropical limit. The motivation is to develop a technology to systematize the extraction of Feynman graphs from string theory amplitudes at higher genus. An important technical input from tropical geometry is the use of tropical theta functions with characteristics to rigorously derive the worldline limit of the worldsheet propagator. This enables us to perform a non-trivial computation at two loops: we derive the tropical form of the integrand of the genus-two four-graviton type II string amplitu…
Scattering amplitudes in planar $\mathcal{N}=4$ super Yang-Mills theory exhibit singularities which reflect various aspects of the cluster algebras associated to the Grassmannians ${\rm Gr}(4,n)$ and their tropical counterparts. Here we investigate the potential origins of such structures and examine the extent to which they can be recovered from the Gröbner structure of the underlying Plücker ideals, focussing on the Grassmannians corresponding to finite cluster algebras. Starting from the Plücker ideal, we describe how the polynomial cluster variables are encoded in non-prime initial ideals …
The biadjoint scalar partial amplitude, $m_n(\mathbb{I},\mathbb{I})$, can be expressed as a single integral over the positive tropical Grassmannian thus producing a Global Schwinger Parameterization. The first result in this work is an extension to all partial amplitudes $m_n(α,β)$ using a limiting procedure on kinematic invariants that produces indicator functions in the integrand. The same limiting procedure leads to an integral representation of $ϕ^4$ amplitudes where indicator functions turn into Dirac delta functions. Their support decomposes into $\textrm{C}_{n/2-1}$ regions, with $\text…
We introduce a natural generalization of the scattering equations, which connect the space of Mandelstam invariants to that of points on ${\mathbb{CP}^1}$, to higher-dimensional projective spaces $\mathbb{CP}^{k-1}$. The standard, $k=2$ Mandelstam invariants, $s_{ab}$, are generalized to completely symmetric tensors $\textsf{s}_{a_1a_2\ldots a_k}$ subject to a `massless' condition $\textsf{s}_{a_1a_2\cdots a_{k-2}\,b\,b}=0$ and to `momentum conservation'. The scattering equations are obtained by constructing a potential function and computing its critical points. We mainly concentrate on the $…
We clarify the natural cluster algebra of type A that exists in a residual and tropical form in the kinematical space as suggested in 1711.09102 by the use of triangulations, mutations and associahedron on the definition of scattering forms. We also show that this residual cluster algebra is preserved in a hypercube (diamond) necklace inside the associahedron where cluster sub-algebras $(A_1)^n$ exist. This result goes in line with results with cluster poligarithms in 1401.6446 written in terms of $A_2$ and $A_3$ functions only and other works showing the primacy of $A$ cluster sub-algebras as…
In these notes we use the recently found relation between facets of tropical Grassmannians and generalizations of Feynman diagrams to compute all "biadjoint amplitudes" for $n=7$ and $k=3$. We also study scattering equations on $X(3,7)$, the configuration space of seven points on $\mathbb{CP}^2$. We prove that the number of solutions is $1272$ in a two-step process. In the first step we obtain $1162$ explicit solutions to high precision using near-soft kinematics. In the second step we compute the matrix of $360\times 360$ biadjoint amplitudes obtained by using the facets of ${\rm Trop}\, G(3,…
In this paper we study the role of planarity in generalized scattering amplitudes, through several closely interacting structures in combinatorics, algebraic and tropical geometry. The generalized biadjoint scalar amplitude, introduced recently by Cachazo-Early-Guevara-Mizera (CEGM), is a rational function of homogeneous degree $-(k-1)(n-k-1)$ in $\binom{n}{k}-n$ independent variables; its poles can be constructed directly from the rays of the positive tropical Grassmannian. We introduce for each pair of integers $(k,n)$ with $2\le k\le n-2$ a system of generalized positive roots which arises …
The study of the moment map from the Grassmannian to the hypersimplex, and the relation between torus orbits and matroid polytopes, dates back to the foundational 1987 work of Gelfand-Goresky-MacPherson-Serganova. On the other hand, the amplituhedron is a very new object, defined by Arkani-Hamed-Trnka in connection with scattering amplitudes in $\mathcal{N}=4$ super Yang-Mills theory. In this paper we discover a striking duality between the moment map $μ:Gr^{\geq0}_{k+1,n}\toΔ_{k+1,n}$ from the positive Grassmannian $Gr^{\geq0}_{k+1,n}$ to the hypersimplex, and the amplituhedron map $\tilde{Z}…
The positive Grassmannian $Gr_{k,n}^{\geq 0}$ is the subset of the real Grassmannian where all Plücker coordinates are nonnegative. It has a beautiful combinatorial structure as well as connections to statistical physics, integrable systems, and scattering amplitudes. The amplituhedron $\mathcal{A}_{n,k,m}(Z)$ is the image of the positive Grassmannian $Gr_{k,n}^{\geq 0}$ under a positive linear map $\mathbb{R}^n \to \mathbb{R}^{k+m}$. We will explain how ideas from oriented matroids, tropical geometry, and cluster algebras shed light on the structure of the positive Grassmannian and the amplit…
