Direct proof of the tree-level scattering amplitude recursion relation in Yang-mills theory

Recently, by using the known structure of one-loop scattering amplitudes for gluons in Yang-Mills theory, a recursion relation for tree-level scattering amplitudes has been deduced. Here, we give a short and direct proof of this recursion relation based on properties of tree-level amplitudes only.     

Compact QED tree-level amplitudes from dressed BCFW recursion relations

We construct a modified on-shell BCFW recursion relation to derive compact analytic representations of tree-level amplitudes in QED. As an application, we study the amplitudes of a fermion pair coupling to an arbitrary number of photons and give compact formulae for the NMHV and N²MHV case. We demonstrate that the new recursion relation reduces the growth in complexity with additional photons to be exponential rather than factorial.     

An introduction to on-shell recursion relations

This article provides an introduction to on-shell recursion relations for calculations of tree-level amplitudes. Starting with the basics, such as spinor notations and color decompositions, we expose analytic properties of gauge-boson amplitudes, BCFW-deformations, the large z-behavior of amplitudes, and on-shell recursion relations of gluons. We discuss further developments of on-shell recursion relations, including generalization to other quantum field theories, supersymmetric theories in particular, recursion relations for off-shell currents, recursion relation with nonzero boundary contributions, bonus relations, relations for rational parts of one-loop amplitudes, recursion relations in 3D and a proof of CSW rules. Finally, we present samples of applications, including solutions of split helicity amplitudes and of N = 4 SYM theories, consequences of consistent conditions under recursion relation, Kleiss-Kuijf (KK) and Bern-Carrasco-Johansson (BCJ) relations for color-ordered gluon tree amplitudes, Kawai-Lewellen-Tye (KLT) relations.     

M-Theory in the Gaugeon Formalism

In this paper we will analyse the Aharony-Bergman-Jafferis-Maldacena(ABJM) theory in N = 1 superspace formalism.We then study the quantum gauge transformations for this ABJM theory in gaugeon formalism.We will also analyse the extended BRST symmetry for this ABJM theory in gaugeon formalism and show that these BRST transformations for this theory are nilpotent and this in turn leads to the unitary evolution of the S-matrix.     

Dissolving N = 4 loop amplitudes into QCD tree amplitudes

We use the infrared consistency of one-loop amplitudes in N = 4 Yang-Mills theory to derive a compact analytic formula for a tree-level next-to-next-to-maximal helicity-violating gluon scattering amplitude in QCD, the first such formula known. We argue that the infrared conditions, coupled with recent advances in calculating one-loop box coefficients, can give a new tool for computing tree-level amplitudes in general. Our calculation suggests that many amplitudes have a structure which is even simpler than that revealed so far by current twistor-space constructions.     

Field Diffeomorphisms and the Algebraic Structure of Perturbative Expansions

We consider field diffeomorphisms in the context of real scalar field theories. Starting from free field theories we apply non-linear field diffeomorphisms to the fields and study the perturbative expansion for the transformed theories. We find that tree-level amplitudes for the transformed fields must satisfy BCFW type recursion relations for the S-matrix to remain trivial. For the massless field theory these relations continue to hold in loop computations. In the massive field theory the situation is more subtle. A necessary condition for the Feynman rules to respect the maximal ideal and co-ideal defined by the core Hopf algebra of the transformed theory is that upon renormalization all massive tadpole integrals (defined as all integrals independent of the kinematics of external momenta) are mapped to zero.     

Three applications of a bonus relation for gravity amplitudes

Arkani-Hamed et al. have recently shown that all tree-level scattering amplitudes in maximal supergravity exhibit exceptionally soft behavior when two supermomenta are taken to infinity in a particular complex direction, and that this behavior implies new non-trivial relations amongst amplitudes in addition to the well-known on-shell recursion relations. We consider the application of these new ‘bonus relations’ to MHV amplitudes, showing that they can be used quite generally to relate (n−2)!$(n-2)!$-term formulas typically obtained from recursion relations to (n−3)!$(n-3)!$-term formulas related to the original BGK conjecture. Specifically we provide (1) a direct proof of a formula presented by Elvang and Freedman, (2) a new formula based on one due to Bedford et al., and (3) an alternate proof of a formula recently obtained by Mason and Skinner. Our results also provide the first direct proof that the conjectured BGK formula, only very recently proven via completely different methods, satisfies the on-shell recursion.     

Relations of loop partial amplitudes in gauge theory by Unitarity cut method

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 cannot be expressed as a linear combination of partial amplitudes of leading-color single trace structure. For partial amplitudes of subleading-color single trace structure, we have shown a very non-trivial Kleiss-Kuijf relation for six and seven-point amplitudes, which is one new result of our paper and cannot be obtained by U(1)-decoupling method. Mysteriously, when we consider the case of eight points, Kleiss-Kuijf relation must be modified for subleading-color single trace partial amplitudes.     

Diagrammatic proof of the BCFW recursion relation for gluon amplitudes in QCD

We present a proof of the Britto–Cachazo–Feng–Witten tree-level recursion relation for gluon amplitudes in QCD, based on a direct equivalence between BCFW decompositions and Feynman diagrams. We demonstrate that this equivalence can be made explicit when working in a convenient gauge. We exhibit that gauge invariance and the particular structure of Yang–Mills vertices guarantee the validity of the BCFW construction.     

The Topological Open String Wavefunction

We show that, in local Calabi–Yau manifolds, the topological open string partition function transforms as a wavefunction under modular transformations. Our derivation is based on the topological recursion for matrix models, and it generalizes in a natural way the known result for the closed topological string sector. As an application, we derive results for vacuum expectation values of 1/2 BPS Wilson loops in ABJM theory at all genera in a strong coupling expansion, for various representations.     

Coupling gravitons to matter

Using relationships between open and closed strings, we present a construction of tree-level scattering amplitudes for gravitons minimally coupled to matter in terms of gauge theory partial amplitudes. In particular, we present examples of amplitudes with gravitons coupled to vectors or to a single fermion pair. We also present two examples with massive graviton exchange, as would arise in the presence of large compact dimensions. The gauge charges are represented by flavors of dynamical scalars or fermions. This also leads to an unconventional decomposition of color and kinematics in gauge theories.     

Expansion of EYM amplitudes in gauge invariant vector space

Motivated by the problem of expanding the single-trace tree-level amplitude of Einstein-Yang-Mills theory to the BCJ basis of Yang-Mills amplitudes, we present an alternative expansion formula in gauge invariant vector space. Starting from a generic vector space consisting of polynomials of momenta and polarization vectors, we define a new sub-space as a gauge invariant vector space by imposing constraints on the gauge invariant conditions. To characterize this sub-space, we compute its dimension and construct an explicit gauge invariant basis from it. We propose an expansion formula in this gauge invariant basis with expansion coefficients being linear combinations of the Yang-Mills amplitude, manifesting the gauge invariance of both the expansion basis and coefficients. With the help of quivers, we compute the expansion coefficients via differential operators and demonstrate the general expansion algorithm using several examples.     

Recursion relations and scattering amplitudes in the light-front formalism

The fragmentation functions and scattering amplitudes are investigated in the framework of light-front perturbation theory. It is demonstrated that, the factorization property of the fragmentation functions implies the recursion relations for the off-shell scattering amplitudes which are light-front analogs of the Berends–Giele relations. These recursion relations on the light-front can be solved exactly by induction and it is shown that the expressions for the off-shell light-front amplitudes are represented as a linear combinations of the on-shell amplitudes. By putting external particles on-shell we recover the scattering amplitudes previously derived in the literature.     

Background formalism for superstring field theory

In the framework of the background formalism we analyse possible versions of the Witten-type NSR superstring field theory. We find the picture for string fields to be uniquely fixed by the requirement that the perturbative classical solutions are well-defined. This uniquely defined picture and the corresponding action are different from the ones in Witten's theory and coincide with the ones proposed from different reasons in our previous paper. Following the same background method we calculate the tree-level scattering amplitudes for the new action and argue that in contrast to the ones in Witten's original theory, the amplitudes are singularity-free and hence there is no need to add any tree-level counterterms. We also prove the amplitudes to reproduce correctly the first quantized results.     

On-shell methods for form factors in N = 4 SYM and their applications

Form factors are quantities that involve both asymptotic on-shell states and gauge invariant operators. They provide a natural bridge between on-shell amplitudes and off-shell correlation functions of operators, thus allowing us to use modern on-shell amplitude techniques to probe into the off-shell side of quantum field theory. In particular, form factors have been successfully used in computing the cusp(soft) anomalous dimensions and anomalous dimensions of general local operators. This review is intended to provide a pedagogical introduction to some of these developments. We will first review some amplitudes background using four-point amplitudes as main examples. Then we generalize these techniques to form factors, including(1) tree-level form factors,(2) Sudakov form factor and infrared singularities, and(3) form factors of general operators and their anomalous dimensions. Although most examples we consider are inN= 4 super-Yang-Mill theory, the on-shell methods are universal and are expected to be applicable to general gauge theories.     

Construction of AFLT States by Reflection Method and Recursion Formula

The AFLT states ｜P〉Y1,Y2 has reflection symmetry, S^n｜P〉Y1,Y2 = ｜- P〉Y2,Y2, nb =-2P, where S is the screening charge. AFLT state can be constructed using this reflect symmetry. We propose a recursion formula for this construction. The recursion formula is factorized completely.     

Generalized recursion relations for correlators in the gauge-gravity correspondence

We show that a generalization of the Britto-Cachazo-Feng-Witten recursion relations gives a new and efficient method of computing correlation functions of the stress tensor or conserved currents in conformal field theories with an (d+1)-dimensional anti-de Sitter space dual, for d≥4, in the limit where the bulk theory is approximated by tree-level Yang-Mills theory or gravity. In supersymmetric theories, additional correlators of operators that live in the same multiplet as a conserved current or stress tensor can be computed by these means.     

SU(N) group-theory constraints on color-ordered five-point amplitudes at all loop orders

Color-ordered amplitudes for the scattering of n particles in the adjoint representation of SU(N) gauge theory satisfy constraints arising solely from group theory. We derive these constraints for n=5 at all loop orders using an iterative approach. These constraints generalize well-known tree-level and one-loop group theory relations.     

An exact solution of a one-dimensional asymmetric exclusion model with open boundaries

A simple asymmetric exclusion model with open boundaries is solved exactly in one dimension. The exact solution is obtained by deriving a recursion relation for the steady state: if the steady state is known for all system sizes less thanN, then our equation (8) gives the steady state for sizeN. Using this recursion, we obtain closed expressions (48) for the average occupations of all sites. The results are compared to the predictions of a mean field theory. In particular, for infinitely large systems, the effect of the boundary decays as the distance to the power –1/2 instead of the inverse of the distance, as predicted by the mean field theory.     

Magnetic color-flavor locking phase in high-density QCD

We investigate the effects of an external magnetic field in the gap structure of a color superconductor with three massless quark flavors. Using an effective theory with four-fermion interactions, inspired by one-gluon exchange, we show that the long-range component B of the external magnetic field that penetrates the color-flavor locked phase modifies its gap structure, producing a new phase of lower symmetry. A main outcome of our study is that the B field tends to strengthen the gaps formed by Q-charged and Q-neutral quarks that coupled among themselves through tree-level vertices. These gaps are enhanced by the field-dependent density of states of the Q-charged quarks on the Fermi surface. Our considerations are relevant for the study of highly magnetized compact stars.