On knots in subdivergent diagrams

We investigate Feynman diagrams which are calculable in terms of generalized one-loop functions, and explore how the presence or absence of transcendentals in their counterterms reflects the entanglement of link diagrams constructed from them and explains unexpected relations between them. Received: 8 April 1997 / Revised version: 10 June 1997 / Published online: 20 February 1998     

Calculation of a High Order QCD Process-gg to ttgg

We use the permutation group of order 4 to classify the fouith order tree QCD Feynman diagrams, which contribute to the gg to tfgg process. (There are 159 of them.) We also provide new methods to make the color sum, and to check the gauge symmetry of the matrix elements and Feynman parts.     

Counting loop diagrams: computational complexity of higher-order amplitude evaluation

We discuss the computational complexity of the perturbative evaluation of scattering amplitudes, both by the Caravaglios-Moretti algorithm and by direct evaluation of the individual diagrams. For a self-interacting scalar theory, we determine the complexity as a function of the number of external legs. We describe a method for obtaining the number of topologically inequivalent Feynman graphs containing closed loops, and apply this to 1- and 2-loop amplitudes. We also compute the number of graphs weighted by their symmetry factors, thus arriving at exact and asymptotic estimates for the average symmetry factor of diagrams. We present results for the asymptotic number of diagrams up to 10 loops, and prove that the average symmetry factor approaches unity as the number of external legs becomes large.Received: 2 June 2004, Published online: 23 July 2004Research supported by the EU contract no. HPMD-CT-2001-00105     

Inner fluctuations of the spectral action

We prove in the general framework of noncommutative geometry that the inner fluctuations of the spectral action can be computed as residues and give exactly the counterterms for the Feynman graphs with fermionic internal lines. We show that for geometries of dimension less than or equal to four the obtained terms add up to a sum of a Yang–Mills action with a Chern–Simons action.     

Regularization and supersymmetry-restoring counterterms in supersymmetric QCD

We calculate symmetry-restoring counterterms in supersymmetric QCD at the one-loop level. First we determine loop corrections to the supersymmetry and gauge transformations and find counterterms in such a way that the symmetry algebra holds at the one-loop level. Then these results are used to derive the symmetry-restoring counterterms to all trilinear interactions. In order to obtain unique results it is crucial to use the Slavnov-Taylor identity, which does not only contain supersymmetric and gauge Ward identities but also describes the symmetry algebra. In dimensional regularization this procedure yields unique non-zero values for the counterterms. In contrast, in dimensional reduction we find that no non-symmetric counterterms are needed, neither for the symmetry transformations nor for the physical interactions. For the considered cases this result constitutes a definite test of the supersymmetry and gauge invariance of the scheme. Received: 1 March 2001 / Published online: 25 April 2001     

Editors’ preface for the special issue on Noncommutative Geometry

We prove in the general framework of noncommutative geometry that the inner fluctuations of the spectral action can be computed as residues and give exactly the counterterms for the Feynman graphs with fermionic internal lines. We show that for geometries of dimension less than or equal to four the obtained terms add up to a sum of a Yang–Mills action with a Chern–Simons action.     

Lax Pair Equations and Connes-Kreimer Renormalization

We find a Lax pair equation corresponding to the Connes-Kreimer Birkhoff factorization of the character group of a Hopf algebra. This flow preserves the locality of counterterms. In particular, we obtain a flow for the character given by Feynman rules, and relate this flow to the Renormalization Group Flow.     

A technique for generating Feynman diagrams

We present a simple technique that allows to generate Feynman diagrams for vector models with interactions of order2n and similar models (Gross-Neveu, Thirring model) using a bootstrap equation that uses only the free field value of the energy as an input. The method allows to find the diagrams to, in principle, arbitrarily high order and applies to both energy and correlation functions. It automatically generates the correct symmetry factor (as a function of the number of components of the field) and the correct sign for any diagram in the case of fermion loops. We briefly discuss the possibility of treating QED as a Thirring model with non-local interaction.     

A points-splitting and dimensional renormalization

We consider Feynman amplitudes which are doubly regularized by means of complete points splitting of vertices and continuation in the dimension of space-time. We show how to construct a subtraction operator which leads to polynomial counterterms and to a renormalized amplitude which is finite as the regularizations are removed in either order, and corresponds to the dimensionally renormalized result in the limit of no points splitting.     

Operator approach to analytical evaluation of Feynman diagrams

The operator approach to analytical evaluation of multiloop Feynman diagrams is proposed. We show that the known analytical methods of evaluation of massless Feynman integrals, such as the integration-by-parts method and the method of “uniqueness” (which is based on the star-triangle relation), can be drastically simplified by using this operator approach. To demonstrate the advantages of the operator method of analytical evaluation of multiloop Feynman diagrams, we calculate ladder diagrams for the massless ϕ ³ theory (analytical results for these diagrams are expressed in terms of multiple polylogarithms). It is shown how operator formalism can be applied to calculation of certain massive Feynman diagrams and investigation of the Lipatov integrable chain model. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

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.     

BPHZ renormalization of λφ4 field theory in curved spacetime

A proof is given to all orders in perturbation theory of the renormalizability of λφ⁴ field theory in curved spacetime. The proof is based on the BPHZ definition of a renormalized Feynman integrand and uses dimensional regularization to ensure that products of Feynman propagators are well-defined distributions. The explicit structure of the pole terms in the Feynman integrand is obtained using a local momentum space representation of the Feynman propagator and is shown to be of a form which can be cancelled by counterterms in the scalar field Lagrangian. The proof given is, technically, only valid for metrics which have been analytically continued to Euclidean (++++) signature.     

Multi-loop Feynman integrals and conformal quantum mechanics

New algebraic approach to analytical calculations of D-dimensional integrals for multi-loop Feynman diagrams is proposed. We show that the known analytical methods of evaluation of multi-loop Feynman integrals, such as integration by parts and star-triangle relation methods, can be drastically simplified by using this algebraic approach. To demonstrate the advantages of the algebraic method of analytical evaluation of multi-loop Feynman diagrams, we calculate ladder diagrams for the massless φ³ theory. Using our algebraic approach we show that the problem of evaluation of special classes of Feynman diagrams reduces to the calculation of the Green functions for specific quantum mechanical problems. In particular, the integrals for ladder massless diagrams in the φ³ scalar field theory are given by the Green function for the conformal quantum mechanics.     

Mellin–Barnes representations of Feynman diagrams,linear systems of differential equations,and polynomial solutions

We argue that the Mellin–Barnes representations of Feynman diagrams can be used for obtaining linear systems of homogeneous differential equations for the original Feynman diagrams with arbitrary powers of propagators without recourse to the integration-by-parts technique. These systems of differential equations can be used (i) for the differential reductions to sets of basic functions and (ii) for counting the numbers of master integrals.     

On the evaluation of a certain class of Feynman diagrams in x-space: Sunrise-type topologies at any loop order

We review recently developed new powerful techniques to compute a class of Feynman diagrams at any loop order, known as sunrise-type diagrams. These sunrise-type topologies have many important applications in many different fields of physics and we believe it to be timely to discuss their evaluation from a unified point of view. The method is based on the analysis of the diagrams directly in configuration space which, in the case of the sunrise-type diagrams and diagrams related to them, leads to enormous simplifications as compared to the traditional evaluation of loops in momentum space. We present explicit formulae for their analytical evaluation for arbitrary mass configurations and arbitrary dimensions at any loop order. We discuss several limiting cases in their kinematical regimes which are e.g. relevant for applications in HQET and NRQCD. We completely solve the problem of renormalization using simple formulae for the counterterms within dimensional regularization. An important application is the computation of the multi-particle phase space in D-dimensional space-time which we discuss. We present some examples of their numerical evaluation in the general case of D-dimensional space-time as well as in integer dimensions D = D₀ for different values of dimensions including the most important practical cases D₀ = 2, 3, 4. Substantial simplifications occur for odd integer space-time dimensions where the final results can be expressed in closed form through elementary functions. We discuss the use of recurrence relations naturally emerging in configuration space for the calculation of special series of integrals of the sunrise topology. We finally report on results for the computation of an extension of the basic sunrise topology, namely the spectacle topology and the topology where an irreducible loop is added.     

Quantum Field Theory on a Discrete Space and Noncommutative Geometry

We analyze in detail the quantization of a simple noncommutative model of spontaneous symmetry breaking in zero dimensions taking into account the noncommutative setting seriously. The connection to the counting argument of Feynman diagrams of the corresponding theory in four dimensions is worked out explicitly. Special emphasis is put on the motivation as well as the presentation of some well-known basic notions of quantum field theory which in the zero-dimensional theory can be studied without being spoiled by technical complications due to the absence of divergencies.     

Braided Quantum Field Theory

We develop a general framework for quantum field theory on noncommutative spaces, i.e., spaces with quantum group symmetry. We use the path integral approach to obtain expressions for n-point functions. Perturbation theory leads us to generalised Feynman diagrams which are braided, i.e., they have non-trivial over- and under-crossings. We demonstrate the power of our approach by applying it to φ⁴-theory on the quantum 2-sphere. We find that the basic divergent diagram of the theory is regularised. Received: 3 July 1999 / Accepted: 10 November 2000     

Nonanalyticity of the perturbative expansion for super-renormalizable massless field theories

The complete infrared expansion of Feynman amplitudes is established at any dimension d. The so called infrared finite parts develop poles at rational d. We prove a conjecture by Parisi by constructing an infrared subtraction procedure which defines finite amplitudes in such dimensions. The corresponding counterterms are associated to nonlocal operators and are generated in a nonperturbative way for super-renormalizable theories. We determine at all orders the perturbative expansion which contains powers and logarithms of the coupling constant.     

Perturbation and renormalization in thermo field dynamics

A systematic renormalization procedure used in the perturbative calculation of the real-time causal Green's functions at finite temperature is presented. The formalism of thermo field dynamics is employed throughout, permitting the use of Feynman diagram techniques. The renormalizability by means of the temperature-independent counterterms is proved.