Supersymmetric Wilson loops at two loops

We study the quantum properties of certain BPS Wilson loops in ${\cal N}=4$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. They belong to a general family, introduced recently, in which the addition of particular scalar couplings endows generic loops on $S^3$ with a fraction of supersymmetry. When restricted to $S^2$, their quantum average has been further conjectured to be exactly computed by the matrix model governing the zero-instanton sector of YM$_2$ on the sphere. We perform a complete two-loop analysis on a class of cusped Wilson loops lying on a two-dimensional sphere, finding perfect agreement with the conjecture. The perturbative computation reproduces the matrix-model expectation through a highly non-trivial interplay between ladder diagrams and self-energies/vertex contributions, suggesting the existence of a localization procedure.Comment: 35 pages, 14 figures, typos corrected, references adde

Wilson Loops @ 3-Loops in Special Kinematics

We obtain a compact expression for the octagon MHV amplitude / Wilson loop at 3 loops in planar N=4 SYM and in special 2d kinematics in terms of 7 unfixed coefficients. We do this by making use of the cyclic and parity symmetry of the amplitude/Wilson loop and its behaviour in the soft/collinear limits as well as in the leading term in the expansion away from this limit. We also make a natural and quite general assumption about the functional form of the result, namely that it should consist of weight 6 polylogarithms whose symbol consists of basic cross-ratios only (and not functions thereof). We also describe the uplift of this result to 10 points.Comment: 26 pages. Typos correcte

Cosmic Loops

This paper explores a special kind of loop of grounding: cosmic loops. A cosmic loop is a loop that intuitively requires us to go "around" the entire universe to come back to the original ground. After describing several kinds of cosmic loop scenarios, I will discuss what we can learn from these scenarios about constraints on grounding; the conceivability of cosmic loops; the possibility of cosmic loops; and the prospects for salvaging local reflexivity, asymmetry and transitivity of grounding in a world containing a cosmic loop of ground. The considerations raised in this paper also bear on what we should think about relations that are meant to support grounding relations: in particular, revisions to theories of the part-whole relation are discussed

Cheban loops

Left Cheban loops are loops that satisfy the identity x(xy.z) = yx.xz. Right Cheban loops satisfy the mirror identity {(z.yx)x = zx.xy}. Loops that are both left and right Cheban are called Cheban loops. Cheban loops can also be characterized as those loops that satisfy the identity x(xy.z) = (y.zx)x. These loops were introduced in Cheban, A. M. Loops with identities of length four and of rank three. II. (Russian) General algebra and discrete geometry, pp. 117-120, 164, "Shtiintsa", Kishinev, 1980. Here we initiate a study of their structural properties. Left Cheban loops are left conjugacy closed. Cheban loops are weak inverse property, power associative, conjugacy closed loops; they are centrally nilpotent of class at most two.Comment: 6 page

Algebraic properties of some varieties of central loops

Isotopes of C-loops with unique non-identity squares are shown to be both C-loops and A-loops. The relationship between C-loops and Steiner loops is further studied. Central loops with the weak and cross inverse properties are also investigated. C-loops are found to be Osborn loops if every element in them are squares.Comment: 20 page

Three lectures on automorphic loops

These notes accompany a series of three lectures on automorphic loops to be delivered by the author at Workshops Loops '15 (Ohrid, Macedonia, 2015). Automorphic loops are loops in which all inner mappings are automorphisms. The first paper on automorphic loops appeared in 1956 and there has been a surge of interest in the topic since 2010. The purpose of these notes is to introduce the methods used in the study of automorphic loops to a wider audience of researchers working in nonassociative mathematics. In the first lecture we establish basic properties of automorphic loops (flexibility, power-associativity and the antiautomorphic inverse property) and discuss relations of automorphic loops to Moufang loops. In the second lecture we expand on ideas of Glauberman and investigate the associated operation $(x^{-1}\backslash (y^2x))^{1/2}$ and similar concepts, using a more modern approach of twisted subgroups. We establish many structural results for commutative and general automorphic loops, including the Odd Order Theorem. In the last lecture we look at enumeration and constructions of automorphic loops. We show that there are no nonassociative simple automorphic loops of order less than $4096$, we study commutative automorphic loops of order $pq$ and $p^3$, and introduce two general constructions of automorphic loops. The material is newly organized and sometimes new, shorter proofs are given