Tree-level recursion relation and dual superconformal symmetry of the ABJM theory

We propose a recursion relation for tree-level scattering amplitudes in three-dimensional Chern-Simons-matter theories. The recursion relation involves a complex deformation of momenta which generalizes the BCFW-deformation used in higher dimensions. Using background field methods, we show that all tree-level superamplitudes of the ABJM theory vanish for large deformations, establishing the validity of the recursion formula. Furthermore, we use the recursion relation to compute six-point and eight-point component amplitudes and match them with independent computations based on Feynman diagrams or the Grassmannian integral formula. As an application of the recursion relation, we prove that all tree-level amplitudes of the ABJM theory have dual superconformal symmetry. Using generalized unitarity methods, we extend this symmetry to the cut-constructible parts of the loop amplitudes.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Tree-level scattering amplitudes in de Sitter space diverge

We derive the growing large-distance behaviour of the graviton propagator in de Sitter space to any order in perturbation. By explicit computation we show that tree-level scattering amplitudes diverge as a consequence of the logarithmic increase of the transverse and traceless part of the graviton propagator.     

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.     

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.     

Compact multigluonic scattering amplitudes with heavy scalars and fermions

Combining the Berends-Giele and on-shell recursion relations we obtain an extremely compact expression for the scattering amplitude of a complex massive scalar-antiscalar pair and an arbitrary number of positive helicity gluons. This is one of the basic building blocks for constructing other helicity configurations from recursion relations. We also show explicitly that the scattering amplitude of massive fermions to gluons, all with positive helicity, is proportional to the scalar one, confirming in this way the recently advocated SUSY-like Ward identities relating both amplitudes.     

Conformal invariance of σ-models and classical string physics

We show that the identification of the conformal anomaly of the general bosonic two-dimensional non-linear σ-model as the generating functional for on-shell string scattering amplitudes is correct up toO(α′) terms. The absence, in the loop corrections to the spacetime effective action, of contributions from the explicit coupling to the dilaton field is suggested as a general feature for σ-models describing tree-level string physics.     

Gluon cascades and amplitudes in light-front perturbation theory

We construct the gluon wave functions, fragmentation functions and scattering amplitudes within the light-front perturbation theory. Recursion relations on the light-front are constructed for the wave functions and fragmentation functions, which in the latter case are the light-front analogs of the Berends–Giele recursion relations. Using general relations between wave functions and scattering amplitudes it is demonstrated how to obtain the maximally-helicity violating amplitudes, and explicit verification of the results is based on simple examples.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Resonant tunneling,eigenvalue and energy band calculation for potential and periodic potential structures

Recursion formulae for the reflection and the transmission probability amplitudes and the eigenvalue equation for multistep potential structures are derived. Using the recursion relations, a dispersion equation for periodic potential structures is presented. Some numerical results for the transmission probability of a double barrier structure with scattering centers, the lifetime of the quasi-bound state in a single quantum well with an applied field, and the miniband of a periodic potential structure are presented.     

Scattering of a slow quantum particle on an axially symmetric short-range potential

A linear version of the variable-phase approach in potential-scattering theory is supplemented with a new asymptotic method. This method is intended for analyzing quantum mechanically and for constructing explicit low-energy approximations for partial-wave phase shifts, amplitudes, cross sections, and radial components of the wave function for the scattering of a quantum particle on an axially symmetric short-range potential. The procedure used to construct all low-energy approximations reduces to solving a recursion chain of energy-independent sets of equations, each such set consisting of two linear first-order differential equations.     

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.     

Discrete-state moduli of string theory from the c = 1 matrix model

We propose a new formulation of the space-time interpretation of the c = 1 matrix model. Our formulation uses the well-known leg-pole factor that relates the matrix model amplitudes to that of the 2-dimensional string theory, but includes fluctuations around the Fermi vacuum on both sides of the inverted harmonic oscillator potential of the double-scaled model, even when the fluctuations are small and confined entirely within the asymptotes in the phase plane. We argue that including fluctuations on both sides of the potential is essential for a consistent interpretation of the leg-pole transformed theory as a theory of space-time gravity. We reproduce the known results for the string theory tree-level scattering amplitudes for flat space and linear dilaton background as a special case. We show that the generic case corresponds to more general space-time backgrounds. In particular, we identify the parameter corresponding to background metric perturbation in string theory (black-hole mass) in terms of the matrix model variables. Possible implications of our work for a consistent non-perturbative definition of string theory as well as for quantized gravity and black-hole physics are discussed.