Cluster Algebras and the Subalgebra Constructibility of the Seven-Particle Remainder Function

Abstract

We review various aspects of cluster algebras and the ways in which they appear in the study of loop-level amplitudes in planar ${\cal N} = 4$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. In particular, we highlight the different forms of cluster-algebraic structure that appear in this theory's two-loop MHV amplitudes---considered as functions, symbols, and at the level of their Lie cobracket---and recount how the `nonclassical' part of these amplitudes can be decomposed into specific functions evaluated on the $A_2$ or $A_3$ subalgebras of Gr$(4,n)$. We then extend this line of inquiry by searching for other subalgebras over which these amplitudes can be decomposed. We focus on the case of seven-particle kinematics, where we show that the nonclassical part of the two-loop MHV amplitude is also constructible out of functions evaluated on the $D_5$ and $A_5$ subalgebras of Gr$(4,7)$, and that these decompositions are themselves decomposable in terms of the same $A_4$ function. These nested decompositions take an especially canonical form, which is dictated in each case by constraints arising from the automorphism group of the parent algebra.