7 research outputs found
Amplitudes at Weak Coupling as Polytopes in AdS_5
We show that one-loop scalar box functions can be interpreted as volumes of
geodesic tetrahedra embedded in a copy of AdS_5 that has dual conformal
space-time as boundary. When the tetrahedron is space-like, it lies in a
totally geodesic hyperbolic three-space inside AdS_5, with its four vertices on
the boundary. It is a classical result that the volume of such a tetrahedron is
given by the Bloch-Wigner dilogarithm and this agrees with the standard physics
formulae for such box functions. The combinations of box functions that arise
in the n-particle one-loop MHV amplitude in N=4 super Yang-Mills correspond to
the volume of a three-dimensional polytope without boundary, all of whose
vertices are attached to a null polygon (which in other formulations is
interpreted as a Wilson loop) at infinity.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figure
Y-system for Scattering Amplitudes
We compute N=4 Super Yang Mills planar amplitudes at strong coupling by
considering minimal surfaces in AdS_5 space. The surfaces end on a null
polygonal contour at the boundary of AdS. We show how to compute the area of
the surfaces as a function of the conformal cross ratios characterizing the
polygon at the boundary. We reduce the problem to a simple set of functional
equations for the cross ratios as functions of the spectral parameter. These
equations have the form of Thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz equations. The area is
the free energy of the TBA system. We consider any number of gluons and in any
kinematic configuration.Comment: 69 pages, 19 figures, v2: references added, minor addition
Hidden Simplicity of Gauge Theory Amplitudes
These notes were given as lectures at the CERN Winter School on Supergravity,
Strings and Gauge Theory 2010. We describe the structure of scattering
amplitudes in gauge theories, focussing on the maximally supersymmetric theory
to highlight the hidden symmetries which appear. Using the BCFW recursion
relations we solve for the tree-level S-matrix in N=4 super Yang-Mills theory,
and describe how it produces a sum of invariants of a large symmetry algebra.
We review amplitudes in the planar theory beyond tree-level, describing the
connection between amplitudes and Wilson loops, and discuss the implications of
the hidden symmetries.Comment: 46 pages, 15 figures. v2 ref added, typos fixe
Three-point function of semiclassical states at weak coupling
We give the derivation of the previously announced analytic expression for
the correlation function of three heavy non-BPS operators in N=4
super-Yang-Mills theory at weak coupling. The three operators belong to three
different su(2) sectors and are dual to three classical strings moving on the
sphere. Our computation is based on the reformulation of the problem in terms
of the Bethe Ansatz for periodic XXX spin-1/2 chains. In these terms the three
operators are described by long-wave-length excitations over the ferromagnetic
vacuum, for which the number of the overturned spins is a finite fraction of
the length of the chain, and the classical limit is known as the Sutherland
limit. Technically our main result is a factorized operator expression for the
scalar product of two Bethe states. The derivation is based on a fermionic
representation of Slavnov's determinant formula, and a subsequent bosonisation.Comment: 28 pages, 5 figures, cosmetic changes and more typos corrected in v
Generic multiloop methods and application to N=4 super-Yang-Mills
We review some recent additions to the tool-chest of techniques for finding
compact integrand representations of multiloop gauge-theory amplitudes -
including non-planar contributions - applicable for N=4 super-Yang-Mills in
four and higher dimensions, as well as for theories with less supersymmetry. We
discuss a general organization of amplitudes in terms of purely cubic graphs,
review the method of maximal cuts, as well as some special D-dimensional
recursive cuts, and conclude by describing the efficient organization of
amplitudes resulting from the conjectured duality between color and kinematic
structures on constituent graphs.Comment: 42 pages, 18 figures, invited review for a special issue of Journal
of Physics A devoted to "Scattering Amplitudes in Gauge Theories", v2 minor
corrections, v3 added reference
T-systems and Y-systems in integrable systems
The T and Y-systems are ubiquitous structures in classical and quantum
integrable systems. They are difference equations having a variety of aspects
related to commuting transfer matrices in solvable lattice models, q-characters
of Kirillov-Reshetikhin modules of quantum affine algebras, cluster algebras
with coefficients, periodicity conjectures of Zamolodchikov and others,
dilogarithm identities in conformal field theory, difference analogue of
L-operators in KP hierarchy, Stokes phenomena in 1d Schr\"odinger problem,
AdS/CFT correspondence, Toda field equations on discrete space-time, Laplace
sequence in discrete geometry, Fermionic character formulas and combinatorial
completeness of Bethe ansatz, Q-system and ideal gas with exclusion statistics,
analytic and thermodynamic Bethe ans\"atze, quantum transfer matrix method and
so forth. This review article is a collection of short reviews on these topics
which can be read more or less independently.Comment: 156 pages. Minor corrections including the last paragraph of sec.3.5,
eqs.(4.1), (5.28), (9.37) and (13.54). The published version (JPA topical
review) also needs these correction