Basics of Generalized Unitarity

Abstract

We review generalized unitarity as a means for obtaining loop amplitudes from on-shell tree amplitudes. The method is generally applicable to both supersymmetric and non-supersymmetric amplitudes, including non-planar contributions. Here we focus mainly on N=4 Yang-Mills theory, in the context of on-shell superspaces. Given the need for regularization at loop level, we also review a six-dimensional helicity-based superspace formalism and its application to dimensional and massive regularizations. An important feature of the unitarity method is that it offers a means for carrying over any identified tree-level property of on-shell amplitudes to loop level, though sometimes in a modified form. We illustrate this with examples of dual conformal symmetry and a recently discovered duality between color and kinematics.Comment: 37 pages, 10 figures. Invited review for a special issue of Journal of Physics A devoted to "Scattering Amplitudes in Gauge Theories", R. Roiban(ed), M. Spradlin(ed), A. Volovich(ed