U($N$) supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory naturally appears as the low-energy effective theory of a system of $N$ D-branes and open strings between them. Transverse spatial directions emerge from scalar fields, which are $N\times N$ matrices with color indices; roughly speaking, the eigenvalues are the locations of D-branes. In the past, it was argued that this simple 'emergent space' picture cannot be used in the context of gauge/gravity duality, because the ground-state wave function delocalizes at large $N$, leading to a conflict with the locality in the bulk geometry. In this paper we show that this conventional wisdom is not correct: the ground-state wave function does not delocalize, and there is no conflict with the locality of the bulk geometry. This conclusion is obtained by clarifying the meaning of the 'diagonalization of a matrix' in Yang-Mills theory, which is not as obvious as one might think. This observation opens up the prospect of characterizing the bulk geometry via the color degrees of freedom in Yang-Mills theory, all the way down to the center of the bulk.
We prove that the scattering equation formalism for Yang-Mills amplitudes can be used to make manifest the theory's color-kinematics duality. This is achieved through a concrete reduction algorithm which renders this duality manifest term-by-term. The reduction follows from the recently derived set of identities for amplitudes expressed in the scattering equation formalism that are analogous to monodromy relations in string theory. A byproduct of our algorithm is a generalization of the identities among gravity and Yang-Mills amplitudes.
To explore color/kinematics duality for general representations of the gauge group we formulate the duality for general abelian orbifolds of the SU(N), N=4 super Yang-Mills theory in four dimensions, which have fields in the bi-fundamental representation, and use it to construct explicitly complete four-vector and four-scalar amplitudes at one loop. For fixed number of supercharges, graph-organized L-loop n-point integrands of all orbifold theories are given in terms of a fixed set of polynomials labeled by L representations of the orbifold group. In contrast to the standard duality-satisfying…
Four-point one-loop nonsupersymmetric pure Yang-Mills amplitudes with the duality between color and kinematics manifest have been constructed in previous work. Here, we extend the discussion to fermions and scalars circulating in the loop with all external gluons. This gives another nontrivial loop-level example showing that the duality between color and kinematics holds in nonsupersymmetric gauge theory. The construction is valid in any spacetime dimension and written in terms of formal polarization vectors. We also convert these expressions into a four-dimensional form with explicit external…
We explicitly show that the Bern-Carrasco-Johansson color-kinematic duality holds at tree level through at least eight points in Aharony-Bergman-Jafferis-Maldacena theory with gauge group SU(N) x SU(N). At six points we give the explicit form of numerators in terms of amplitudes, displaying the generalized gauge freedom that leads to amplitude relations. However, at eight points no amplitude relations follow from the duality, so the diagram numerators are fixed unique functions of partial amplitudes. We provide the explicit amplitude-numerator decomposition and the numerator relations for eigh…
We provide evidence in favor of the conjectured duality between color and kinematics for the case of nonsupersymmetric pure Yang-Mills amplitudes by constructing a form of the one-loop four-point amplitude of this theory that makes the duality manifest. Our construction is valid in any dimension. We also describe a duality-satisfying representation for the two-loop four-point amplitude with identical four-dimensional external helicities. We use these results to obtain corresponding gravity integrands for a theory containing a graviton, dilaton, and antisymmetric tensor, simply by replacing col…
In this talk we review the work in [1,2,3] where we have studied the applicability of the color-kinematics duality to the scattering of two distinguishable scalar matter particles with one gluon emission in QCD, or one graviton emission in Einstein gravity. We have shown that the duality works well in the Regge limit under two different extensions of the gauge theory: the introduction of a new scalar contact interaction and the relaxation of the distinguishability of the scalars. Both modifications correspond to theories obtained by dimensional reduction from higher-dimensional pure gauge theo…
We give a prescription for the computation of loop-level scattering amplitudes in pure Einstein gravity, and four-dimensional pure supergravities, using the color-kinematics duality. Amplitudes are constructed using double copies of pure (super-)Yang-Mills parts and additional contributions from double copies of fundamental matter, which are treated as ghosts. The opposite-statistics states cancel the unwanted dilaton and axion in the bosonic theory, as well as the extra matter supermultiplets in supergravities. As a spinoff, we obtain a prescription for obtaining amplitudes in supergravities …
In flat space, the color/kinematics duality states that perturbative Yang-Mills amplitudes can be written in such a way that kinematic numerators obey the same Jacobi relations as their color factors. This remarkable duality implies BCJ relations for Yang-Mills amplitudes and underlies the double copy to gravitational amplitudes. In this paper, we find analogous relations for Yang-Mills amplitudes in AdS$_4$. In particular we show that the kinematic numerators of 4-point Yang-Mills amplitudes computed via Witten diagrams in momentum space enjoy a generalised gauge symmetry which can be used to…
Color-kinematics duality is a remarkable conjectured property of gauge theory which, together with double copy, is at the heart of a wealth of new developments in scattering amplitudes. So far, its validity has been verified in most cases only empirically, lacking a first-principle understanding beyond tree-level. In this paper we provide initial steps in a first-principle understanding of color-kinematics duality and double-copy at loop level, through a detailed analysis of the field-theory limit of the monodromy relations of string theory at one loop. In this limit, we dissect the type of Fe…
Color-kinematics (CK) duality is a remarkable symmetry of gluon amplitudes that is the key to the double copy which links gauge theory and gravity amplitudes. Here we show that the complete Yang-Mills action itself, including its gauge-fixing and ghost sectors required for quantization, can be recast to manifest CK duality using a series of field redefinitions and gauge choices. Crucially, the resulting loop-level integrands are automatically CK-dual, up to potential Jacobian counterterms required for unitarity. While these counterterms may break CK duality, they exist, are unique and, since t…
We study the duality between color and kinematics for the Sudakov form factors of ${\rm tr}(F^2)$ in non-supersymmetric pure Yang-Mills theory. We construct the integrands that manifest the color-kinematics duality up to two loops. The resulting numerators are given in terms of Lorentz products of momenta and polarization vectors, which have the same powers of loop momenta as that from the Feynman rules. The integrands are checked by $d$-dimensional unitarity cuts and are valid in any dimension. We find that massless-bubble and tadpole topologies are needed at two loops to realize the color-ki…
The AdS boundary correlators and their dual correlation functions of boundary operators have been the main dynamic observables of the holographic duality relating a bulk AdS theory and a boundary conformal field theory. We show that tree-level AdS boundary correlators for generic states can be expressed as nonlocal differential operators of a certain structure acting on contact Witten diagrams. We further write the boundary correlators in a form that is very similar to flat space amplitudes, with Mandelstam variables replaced by certain combinations of single-state conformal generators, prove …
We investigate the transformation of entanglement entropy under dualities, using the Kramers-Wannier duality present in the transverse field Ising model as our example. Entanglement entropy between local spin degrees of freedom is not generically preserved by the duality; instead, entangled states may be mapped to states with no local entanglement. To understand the fate of this entanglement, we consider two quantitative descriptions of degrees of freedom and their transformation under duality. The first involves Kraus operators implementing the partial trace as a quantum channel, while the se…
We give a geometric interpretation of color-kinematics duality between tree-level scattering amplitudes of gauge and gravity theories. Using their representation as intersection numbers we show how to obtain Bern-Carrasco-Johansson numerators in a constructive way as residues around boundaries of the moduli space. In this language the kinematic Jacobi identity between each triple of numerators is a residue theorem in disguise.
We show that color-kinematics duality is present in tree-level amplitudes of quantum chromodynamics with massive flavored quarks. Starting with the color structure of QCD, we work out a new color decomposition for n-point tree amplitudes in a reduced basis of primitive amplitudes. These primitives, with k quark-antiquark pairs and (n-2k) gluons, are taken in the (n-2)!/k! Melia basis, and are independent under the color-algebra Kleiss-Kuijf relations. This generalizes the color decomposition of Del Duca, Dixon, and Maltoni to an arbitrary number of quarks. The color coefficients in the new dec…
Using color-kinematics duality, we construct for the first time the full integrand of the five-loop Sudakov form factor in N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory, including non-planar contributions. This result also provides a first manifestation of the color-kinematics duality at five loops. The integrand is explicitly ultraviolet finite when D<26/5, coincident with the known finiteness bound for amplitudes. If the double-copy method could be applied to the form factor, this would indicate an interesting ultraviolet finiteness bound for N=8 supergravity at five loops. The result is also expected to prov…
This review describes the duality between color and kinematics and its applications, with the aim of gaining a deeper understanding of the perturbative structure of gauge and gravity theories. We emphasize, in particular, applications to loop-level calculations, the broad web of theories linked by the duality and the associated double-copy structure, and the issue of extending the duality and double copy beyond scattering amplitudes. The review is aimed at doctoral students and junior researchers both inside and outside the field of amplitudes and is accompanied by various exercises.
Based on the covariant color-kinematics duality, we investigate combinatorial and algebraic structures underlying their Bern-Carrasco-Johansson (BCJ) numerators of tree-level amplitudes in Yang-Mills-scalar (YMS) theory. The closed-formulae for BCJ numerators of YMS amplitudes and the pure-Yang-Mills (YM) ones exhibit nice quasi-shuffle Hopf algebra structures, and interestingly they can be viewed as summing over boundaries of all dimensions of a combinatorial permutohedron. In particular, the numerator with two scalars and $n{-}2$ gluons contains Fubini number ( $F_{n{-}2}$ ) of terms in one-…
We elaborate on the color-kinematics duality for off-shell diagrams in gauge theories coupled to matter, by investigating the scattering process $gg\to ss, q\bar q, gg$, and show that the Jacobi relations for the kinematic numerators of off-shell diagrams, built with Feynman rules in axial gauge, reduce to a color-kinematics violating term due to the contributions of sub-graphs only. Such anomaly vanishes when the four particles connected by the Jacobi relation are on their mass shell with vanishing squared momenta, being either external or cut particles, where the validity of the color-kinema…
We discuss a residual freedom of the next-to-leading BFKL eigenvalue that originates from ambiguity in redistributing the next-to-leading~(NLO) corrections between the adjoint BFKL eigenvalue and eigenfunctions in planar $\mathcal{N}=4$ super-Yang-Mills~(SYM) Theory. In terms of the remainder function of the Bern-Dixon-Smirnov~(BDS) amplitude this freedom is translated to reshuffling correction between the eigenvalue and the impact factors in the multi-Regge kinematics~(MRK) in the next-to-leading logarithm approximation~(NLA). We show that the modified NLO BFKL eigenvalue suggested by the aut…
Classical double copy is an intriguing relationship between classical solutions to a gravity theory and solutions to classical Yang-Mills equations. Although formally inspired by the double copy relation between (quantum) scattering amplitudes in QCD and perturbative gravity, a direct proof of the former from the latter continues to be under investigation. In this paper, we attempt to prove classical double copy from the color-kinematics duality symmetry of QCD amplitudes in a restricted setting. That is we consider radiative solutions with classical scattering sources in Yang-Mills theory and…
We perturbatively calculate classical radiation in Yang-Mills theory and dilaton gravity, to next-to-leading order in couplings. The radiation is sourced by the scattering of two relativistic massive scalar sources with the dynamical effect taken into account, corresponding to the post-Minkowskian regime in gravity. We show how to arrange the Yang-Mills radiation such that the duality between colors and kinematics is manifest, including the three-term Jacobi identity. The search for duality-satisfying expressions exploits an auxiliary bi-adjoint scalar theory as a guide for locality. The doubl…
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.
In this note, we study color-kinematics duality in generic spacetimes. We work with a contact representation for on shell correlators. The position-space integrand is encoded by enumerated differential operators. This setup generalizes certain features of S-matrix kinematics to curved space. Differences between flat and curved space are captured by commutators. We study the nonlinear sigma model at four points as an explicit example and find that color-kinematics duality holds in generic spacetimes. We illustrate our approach in the AdS transition amplitude, a type of on shell correlation func…
Many gauge theories possess a hidden duality between color and kinematics in their on-shell scattering amplitudes. An open problem is to formulate an off-shell realization of the duality, thus manifesting a kinematic algebra. We show that 3D Chern-Simons (CS) theory in Lorenz gauge obeys off-shell color-kinematics duality. This holds both for the gauge field and the BRST ghosts, and the duality is manifest in the Feynman rules. A kinematic algebra can be formulated through a second-order differential operator (Poisson bracket) acting on the off-shell fields, and it corresponds to 3D volume-pre…
We show that color-kinematics duality is a manifest property of the equations of motion governing currents and field strengths. For the nonlinear sigma model (NLSM), this insight enables an implementation of the double copy at the level of fields, as well as an explicit construction of the kinematic algebra and associated kinematic current. As a byproduct, we also derive new formulations of the special Galileon (SG) and Born-Infeld (BI) theory. For Yang-Mills (YM) theory, this same approach reveals a novel structure -- covariant color-kinematics duality -- whose only difference from the conven…
We obtain full-color three-loop three-point form factors of the stress-tensor supermultiplet and also of a length-3 half-BPS operator in N=4 SYM based on the color-kinematics duality and on-shell unitarity. The integrand results are verified by all planar and non-planar unitarity cuts, and they satisfy the minimal power-counting of loop momenta and diagrammatic symmetries. Interestingly, these three-loop solutions, while manifesting all dual Jacobi relations, contain a large number of free parameters; in particular, there are 24 free parameters for the form factor of stress-tensor supermultipl…
We present a dual formulation of the Cosserat theory of elasticity. In this theory a local element of an elastic body is described in terms of local displacement and local orientation. Upon the duality transformation these degrees of freedom map onto a coupled theory of a vector-valued one-form gauge field and an ordinary $U(1)$ gauge field. We discuss the degrees of freedom in the corresponding gauge theories, the defect matter and coupling to the curved space.
In this note we study the applicability of the color-kinematics duality to the scattering of two distinguishable scalar matter particles with gluon emission in QCD, or graviton emission in Einstein gravity. Previous analysis suggested that direct use of the Bern-Carrasco-Johansson double-copy prescription to matter amplitudes does not reproduce the gravitational amplitude in multi-Regge kinematics. This situation, however, can be avoided by extensions to the gauge theory, while maintaning the same Regge limit. Here we present two examples of these extensions: the introduction of a scalar conta…
Berends-Giele currents are fundamental building blocks for on-shell amplitudes in non-abelian gauge theory. We present a novel procedure to construct them using the Bern-Kosower formalism for one-loop gluon amplitudes. Applying the pinch procedure of that formalism to a suitable special case the currents are naturally obtained in terms of multi-particle fields and obeying colour-kinematics duality. As a feedback to the Bern-Kosower formalism we outline how the multi-particle polarisations and field-strength tensors can be used to significantly streamline the pinch procedure.
We explore color-kinematic duality for tree-level AdS/CFT correlators in momentum space. We start by studying the bi-adjoint scalar in AdS at tree-level as an illustrative example. We follow this by investigating two forms of color-kinematic duality in Yang-Mills theory, the first for the integrated correlator in AdS$_4$ and the second for the integrand in general AdS$_{d+1}$. For the integrated correlator, we find color-kinematics does not yield additional relations among $n$-point, color-ordered correlators. To study color-kinematics for the AdS$_{d+1}$ Yang-Mills integrand, we use a spectra…
We propose a twelve-dimensional supergravity action, which describes low energy dynamics of F-theory. Dimensional reduction leads the theory to eleven-dimensional, IIA, and IIB supergravities. Self-duality of the four-form field in IIB supergravity is understood. It is necessary to abandon twelve-dimensional Poincare symmetry by making one dimension compact, which is to be decompactified in some region of parameter space, such that the physical degrees of freedom are the same as those of eleven-dimensional supergravity. This makes T-duality explicit as a relation between different compactifica…
We consider coupling an ordinary quantum field theory with an infinite number of degrees of freedom to a topological field theory. On R^d the new theory differs from the original one by the spectrum of operators. Sometimes the local operators are the same but there are different line operators, surface operators, etc. The effects of the added topological degrees of freedom are more dramatic when we compactify R^d, and they are crucial in the context of electric-magnetic duality. We explore several examples including Dijkgraaf-Witten theories and their generalizations both in the continuum and …
Form factors, as quantities involving both local operators and asymptotic particle states, contain information of both the spectrum of operators and the on-shell amplitudes. So far the studies of form factors have been mostly focused on the large Nc planar limit, with a few exceptions of Sudakov form factors. In this paper, we discuss the systematical construction of full color dependent form factors with generic local operators. We study the color decomposition for form factors and discuss the general strategy of using on-shell unitarity cut method. As concrete applications, we compute the fu…
Entire Four-Graviton EFT from the Duality Between Color and Kinematics
Northwestern University（西北大学）；Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA)（天体物理跨学科探索与研究中心）；University of Chicago（芝加哥大学）
