Gravitational Scattering in the High-Energy Limit

Any gravitational scattering amplitude takes a remarkably simple factorized form at tree level in multi-Regge kinematics (MRK), where the produced particles are strongly ordered in rapidity. Very recently, it was shown that also the scattering equations have a very simple structure in MRK. In this paper we study Einstein gravity amplitudes in MRK in the framework of the scattering equations. We present a new derivation of the multi-Regge factorization of tree-level amplitudes with any number of external gravitons and any helicity configuration.Comment: 24 pages. v2: typos correcte

A note on connected formula for form factors

In this note we study the connected prescription, originally derived from Witten's twistor string theory, for tree-level form factors in ${\cal N}=4$ super-Yang-Mills theory. The construction is based on the recently proposed four-dimensional scattering equations with $n$ massless on-shell states and one off-shell state, which we expect to work for form factors of general operators. To illustrate the universality of the prescription, we propose compact formulas for super form factors with chiral stress-tensor multiplet operator, and bosonic ones with scalar operators ${\rm Tr}(\phi^m)$ for arbitrary $m$.Comment: 13 page

Bootstrapping solutions of scattering equations

The scattering equations are a set of algebraic equations connecting the kinematic space of massless particles and the moduli space of Riemann spheres with marked points. We present an efficient method for solving the scattering equations based on the numerical algebraic geometry. The cornerstone of our method is the concept of the physical homotopy between different points in the kinematic space, which naturally induces a homotopy of the scattering equations. As a result, the solutions of the scattering equations with different points in the kinematic space can be tracked from each other. Finally, with the help of soft limits, all solutions can be bootstrapped from the known solution for the four-particle scattering.Comment: v2: published version. The code is available at https://github.com/zxrlha/sehom

Scattering Equations, Twistor-string Formulas and Double-soft Limits in Four Dimensions

We study scattering equations and formulas for tree amplitudes of various theories in four dimensions, in terms of spinor helicity variables and on-shell superspace for supersymmetric theories. As originally obtained in Witten's twistor string theory and other twistor-string models, the equations can take either polynomial or rational forms, and we clarify the simple relation between them. We present new, four-dimensional formulas for all tree amplitudes in the non-linear sigma model, a special Galileon theory and the maximally supersymmetric completion of the Dirac-Born-Infeld theory. Furthermore, we apply the formulas to study various double-soft theorems in these theories, including the emissions of a pair of soft photons, fermions and scalars for super-amplitudes in super-DBI theory.Comment: 22 pages, 2 tables; v2: ref added, minor typos fixe

Multi-Regge kinematics and the scattering equations

We study the solutions to the scattering equations in various quasi-multi-Regge regimes where the produced particles are ordered in rapidity. We observe that in all cases the solutions to the scattering equations admit the same hierarchy as the rapidity ordering, and we conjecture that this behaviour holds independently of the number of external particles. In multi-Regge limit, where the produced particles are strongly ordered in rapidity, we determine exactly all solutions to the scattering equations that contribute to the Cachazo-He-Yuan (CHY) formula for gluon scattering in this limit. When the CHY formula is localised on these solutions, it reproduces the expected factorisation of tree-level amplitudes in terms of impact factors and Lipatov vertices. We also investigate amplitudes in various quasi-MRK. While in these cases we cannot determine the solutions to the scattering equations exactly, we show that again our conjecture combined with the CHY formula implies the factorisation of the amplitude into universal buildings blocks for which we obtain a CHY-type representation.Comment: 40 pages, 1 figur

Infrared photons and asymptotic symmetries

S-matrix elements exhibit universal factorization when multiple infrared photons are emitted in scattering processes. We explicitly show that the leading soft factorization of tree-level amplitudes with the emission of any number of soft photons can be interpreted as the Ward identity of the asymptotic symmetry of gauge theory.Comment: 10 pages, v2: minor revision with several issues clarified and comments added, typo correcte

Conservative Tidal Effects in Compact Binary Systems to Next-to-Leading Post-Minkowskian Order

Using the Effective Field Theory approach together with the Boundary-to-Bound map, we compute the next-to-leading order (NLO) Post-Minkowskian (PM) tidal effects in the conservative dynamics of compact binary systems. We derive the mass and current quadrupole and, for the first time, octupole corrections to the binding energy for circular orbits at ${\cal O}(G^3)$. Our results are consistent with the test-body limit as well as the existent Post-Newtonian literature. We also reconstruct a Hamiltonian incorporating tidal effects to NLO in the PM expansion and find complete agreement with the recent derivation of its quadrupolar part using the classical limit of scattering amplitudes.Comment: 5+4 pages. 1 figur

Spin Effects in the Effective Field Theory Approach to Post-Minkowskian Conservative Dynamics

Building upon the worldline effective field theory (EFT) formalism for spinning bodies developed for the Post-Newtonian regime, we generalize the EFT approach to Post-Minkowskian (PM) dynamics to include rotational degrees of freedom in a manifestly covariant framework. We introduce a systematic procedure to compute the total change in momentum and spin in the gravitational scattering of compact objects. For the special case of spins aligned with the orbital angular momentum, we show how to construct the radial action for elliptic-like orbits using the Boundary-to-Bound correspondence. As a paradigmatic example, we solve the scattering problem to next-to-leading PM order with linear and bilinear spin effects and arbitrary initial conditions, incorporating for the first time finite-size corrections. We obtain the aligned-spin radial action from the resulting scattering data, and derive the periastron advance and binding energy for circular orbits. We also provide the (square of the) center-of-mass momentum to ${\cal O}(G^2)$, which may be used to reconstruct a Hamiltonian. Our results are in perfect agreement with the existent literature, while at the same time extend the knowledge of the PM dynamics of compact binaries at quadratic order in spins.Comment: 41 pages. 1 ancillary file (wl format

Conservative Dynamics of Binary Systems to Third Post-Minkowskian Order from the Effective Field Theory Approach

We derive the conservative dynamics of non-spinning binaries to third Post-Minkowskian order, using the Effective Field Theory (EFT) approach introduced in [2006.01184] together with the Boundary-to-Bound dictionary developed in [1910.03008, 1911.09130]. The main ingredient is the scattering angle, which we compute to ${\cal O}(G^3)$ via Feynman diagrams. Adapting to the EFT framework powerful tools from the amplitudes program, we show how the associated (master) integrals are bootstrapped to all orders in velocities via differential equations. Remarkably, the boundary conditions can be reduced to the same integrals that appear in the EFT with Post-Newtonian sources. For the sake of comparison, we reconstruct the Hamiltonian and the classical limit of the scattering amplitude. Our results are in perfect agreement with those in Bern et al. [1901.04424, 1908.01493].Comment: 7 pages. 1 figure. v2: Typos and misprints fixed (notably in Eq. 19). To appear in Phys. Rev. Let