arXiv subjects

Donal O'Connell

Publications and source records attributed to Donal O'Connell.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

Amplitudes from Coulomb to Kerr-Taub-NUT

Electric-magnetic duality, the Newman-Janis shift, and the double copy all act by elementary operations on three-point amplitudes. At the same time, they generate a network of interesting classical solutions spanning from the Coulomb charge via the dyon to the Kerr-Taub-NUT spacetime. We identify the amplitudes corresponding to each of these solutions, working to all orders in spin, but to leading perturbative order. We confirm that the amplitudes double-copy when the solutions are related by the classical double copy. Along the way we show that the Kerr-Taub-NUT solution corresponds to a gravitational electric-magnetic duality rotation acting on the Kerr solution, again to all orders in spin, and demonstrate that the asymptotic charges also transform simply under our operations.

hep-th↗

arXiv2020

Classical Yang-Mills observables from amplitudes

The double copy suggests that the basis of the dynamics of general relativity is Yang-Mills theory. Motivated by the importance of the relativistic two-body problem, we study the classical dynamics of colour-charged particle scattering from the perspective of amplitudes, rather than equations of motion. We explain how to compute the change of colour, and the radiation of colour, during a classical collision. We apply our formalism at next-to-leading order for the colour change and at leading order for colour radiation.

hep-th↗

arXiv2020

The Double Copy of Electric-Magnetic Duality

We argue that the complex transformation relating the Schwarzschild to the Taub-NUT metric, introduced by Talbot, is in fact an electric-magnetic duality transformation. We show that at null infinity, the complex transformation is equivalent to a complexified BMS supertranslation, which rotates the supertranslation and the dual (magnetic) supertranslation charges. This can also be seen from the cubic coupling between the classical source and its background, which for Taub-NUT is given by a complex phase rotation acting on gravitational minimal couplings. The same phase rotation generates dyons from electrons at the level of minimally coupled amplitudes, manifesting the double copy relation between the two solutions.

hep-th↗

arXiv2020

Kerr Black Holes as Elementary Particles

Long ago, Newman and Janis showed that a complex deformation $z\rightarrow z+i a$ of the Schwarzschild solution produces the Kerr solution. The underlying explanation for this relationship has remained obscure. The complex deformation has an electromagnetic counterpart: by shifting the Coloumb potential, we obtain the EM field of a certain rotating charge distribution which we term $\sqrt{\rm Kerr}$. In this note, we identify the origin of this shift as arising from the exponentiation of spin operators for the recently defined "minimally coupled" three-particle amplitudes of spinning particles coupled to gravity, in the large-spin limit. We demonstrate this by studying the impulse imparted to a test particle in the background of the heavy spinning particle. We first consider the electromagnetic case, where the impulse due to $\sqrt{\rm Kerr}$ is reproduced by a charged spinning particle; the shift of the Coloumb potential is matched to the exponentiated spin-factor appearing in the amplitude. The known impulse due to the Kerr black hole is then trivially derived from the gravitationally coupled spinning particle via the double copy.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Observables and amplitudes for spinning particles and black holes

We develop a general formalism for computing classical observables for relativistic scattering of spinning particles, directly from on-shell amplitudes. We then apply this formalism to minimally coupled Einstein-gravity amplitudes for the scattering of massive spin 1/2 and spin 1 particles with a massive scalar, constructed using the double copy. In doing so we reproduce recent results at first post-Minkowskian order for the scattering of spinning black holes, through quadrupolar order in the spin-multipole expansion.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Spinor-helicity and the algebraic classification of higher-dimensional spacetimes

The spinor-helicity formalism is an essential technique of the amplitudes community. We draw on this method to construct a scheme for classifying higher-dimensional spacetimes in the style of the four-dimensional Petrov classification and the Newman-Penrose formalism. We focus on the five-dimensional case for concreteness. Our spinorial scheme naturally reproduces the full structure previously seen in both the CMPP and de Smet classifications, and resolves longstanding questions concerning the relationship between the two classifications.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

Amplitudes, Observables, and Classical Scattering

We present a formalism for computing classically measurable quantities directly from on-shell quantum scattering amplitudes. We discuss the ingredients needed for obtaining the classical result, and show how to set up the calculation to derive the result efficiently. We do this without specializing to a specific theory. We study in detail two examples in electrodynamics: the momentum transfer in spinless scattering to next-to-leading order, and the momentum radiated to leading order.

hep-th↗

arXiv2017

Inelastic Black Hole Scattering from Charged Scalar Amplitudes

We explain how the lowest-order classical gravitational radiation produced during the inelastic scattering of two Schwarzschild black holes in General Relativity can be obtained from a tree scattering amplitude in gauge theory coupled to scalar fields. The gauge calculation is related to gravity through the double copy. We remove unwanted scalar forces which can occur in the double copy by introducing a massless scalar in the gauge theory, which is treated as a ghost in the link to gravity. We hope these methods are a step towards a direct application of the double copy at higher orders in classical perturbation theory, with the potential to greatly streamline gravity calculations for phenomenological applications.

hep-th↗

arXiv2017

A unitarity compatible approach to one-loop amplitudes with massive fermions

We explain how one-loop amplitudes with massive fermions can be computed using only on-shell information. We first use the spinor-helicity formalism in six dimensions to perform generalised unitarity cuts in $d$ dimensions. We then show that divergent wavefunction cuts can be avoided, and the remaining ambiguities in the renormalised amplitudes can be fixed, by matching to universal infrared poles in $4-2ε$ dimensions and ultraviolet poles in $6-2ε$ dimensions. In the latter case we construct an effective Lagrangian in six dimensions and reduce the additional constraint to an on-shell tree-level computation.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2016

The double copy: Bremsstrahlung and accelerating black holes

Advances in our understanding of perturbation theory suggest the existence of a correspondence between classical general relativity and Yang-Mills theory. A concrete example of this correspondence, which is known as the double copy, was recently introduced for the case of stationary Kerr-Schild spacetimes. Building on this foundation, we examine the simple time-dependent case of an accelerating, radiating point source. The gravitational solution, which generalises the Schwarzschild solution, includes a non-trivial stress-energy tensor. This stress-energy tensor corresponds to a gauge theoretic current in the double copy. We interpret both of these sources as representing the radiative part of the field. Furthermore, in the simple example of Bremsstrahlung, we determine a scattering amplitude describing the radiation, maintaining the double copy throughout. Our results provide the strongest evidence yet that the classical double copy is directly related to the BCJ double copy for scattering amplitudes.

hep-th↗

arXiv2015

Overcoming Obstacles to Colour-Kinematics Duality at Two Loops

The discovery of colour-kinematics duality has allowed great progress in our understanding of the UV structure of gravity. However, it has proven difficult to find numerators which satisfy colour-kinematics duality in certain cases. We discuss obstacles to building a set of such numerators in the context of the five-gluon amplitude with all helicities positive at two loops. We are able to overcome the obstacles by adding more loop momentum to our numerator to accommodate tension between the values of certain cuts and the symmetries of certain diagrams. At the same time, we maintain control over the size of our ansatz by identifying a highly constraining but desirable symmetry property of our master numerator. The resulting numerators have twelve powers of loop momenta rather than the seven one would expect from the Feynman rules.

hep-th↗

arXiv2015

A Complete Two-Loop, Five-Gluon Helicity Amplitude in Yang-Mills Theory

We compute the integrand of the full-colour, two-loop, five-gluon scattering amplitude in pure Yang-Mills theory with all helicities positive, using generalized unitarity cuts. Tree-level BCJ relations, satisfied by amplitudes appearing in the cuts, allow us to deduce all the necessary non-planar information for the full-colour amplitude from known planar data. We present our result in terms of irreducible numerators, with colour factors derived from the multi-peripheral colour decomposition. Finally, the leading soft divergences are checked to reproduce the expected infrared behaviour.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2015

Black holes and the double copy

Recently, a perturbative duality between gauge and gravity theories (the double copy) has been discovered, that is believed to hold to all loop orders. In this paper, we examine the relationship between classical solutions of non-Abelian gauge theory and gravity. We propose a general class of gauge theory solutions that double copy to gravity, namely those involving stationary Kerr-Schild metrics. The Schwarzschild and Kerr black holes (plus their higher-dimensional equivalents) emerge as special cases. We also discuss plane wave solutions. Furthermore, a recently examined double copy between the self-dual sectors of Yang-Mills theory and gravity can be reinterpreted using a momentum-space generalisation of the Kerr-Schild framework.

hep-th↗

arXiv2013

The Kinematic Algebras from the Scattering Equations

We study kinematic algebras associated to the recently proposed scattering equations, which arise in the description of the scattering of massless particles. In particular, we describe the role that these algebras play in the BCJ duality between colour and kinematics in gauge theory, and its relation to gravity. We find that the scattering equations are a consistency condition for a self-dual-type vertex which is associated to each solution of those equations. We also identify an extension of the anti-self-dual vertex, such that the two vertices are not conjugate in general. Both vertices correspond to the structure constants of Lie algebras. We give a prescription for the use of the generators of these Lie algebras in trivalent graphs that leads to a natural set of BCJ numerators. In particular, we write BCJ numerators for each contribution to the amplitude associated to a solution of the scattering equations. This leads to a decomposition of the determinant of a certain kinematic matrix, which appears naturally in the amplitudes, in terms of trivalent graphs. We also present the kinematic analogues of colour traces, according to these algebras, and the associated decomposition of that determinant.

hep-th↗

arXiv2013

Integrand Oxidation and One-Loop Colour-Dual Numerators in N=4 Gauge Theory

We present a systematic method to determine BCJ numerators for one-loop amplitudes that explores the global constraints on the loop momentum dependence. We apply this method to amplitudes in N=4 gauge theory, working out detailed examples up to seven points in both the MHV and the NMHV sectors. The structure of Jacobi identities between BCJ numerators is seen to be closely connected to that of algebraic integrand reductions. We discuss the consequences for one-loop N=8 supergravity amplitudes obtained through the double copy prescription. Moreover, in the MHV sector, we show how to obtain simple BCJ box numerators using a conjectured relationship to amplitudes in self-dual gauge theory. We also introduce simpler trace-type formulas for integrand reductions.

hep-th↗

arXiv2013

Constraints on New Physics from Baryogenesis and Large Hadron Collider Data

We demonstrate the power of constraining theories of new physics by insisting that they lead to electroweak baryogenesis, while agreeing with current data from the Large Hadron Collider. The general approach is illustrated with a singlet scalar extension of the Standard Model. Stringent bounds can already be obtained, which reduce the viable parameter space to a small island.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

Colour-Kinematics Duality for One-Loop Rational Amplitudes

Colour-kinematics duality is the conjecture of a group theory-like structure for the kinematic dependence of scattering amplitudes in gauge theory and gravity. This structure has been verified at tree level in various ways, but similar progress has been lacking at loop level, where the power of the duality would be most significant. Here we explore colour-kinematics duality at one loop using the self-dual sector as a starting point. The duality is shown to exist in pure Yang-Mills theory for two infinite classes of amplitudes: amplitudes with any number of particles either all of the same helicity or with one particle helicity opposite the rest. We provide a simple Lagrangian-based argument in favour of the double copy relation between gauge theory and gravity amplitudes in these classes, and provide some explicit examples. We further discuss aspects of the duality which persist after integration, leading to relations among partial amplitudes. Finally, we describe form factors in the self-dual theory at tree level which also satisfy the duality.

hep-th↗

arXiv2012

Algebras for Amplitudes

Tree-level amplitudes of gauge theories are expressed in a basis of auxiliary amplitudes with only cubic vertices. The vertices in this formalism are explicitly factorized in color and kinematics, clarifying the color-kinematics duality in gauge theory amplitudes. The basis is constructed making use of the KK and BCJ relations, thereby showing precisely how these relations underlie the color-kinematics duality. We express gravity amplitudes in terms of a related basis of color-dressed gauge theory amplitudes, with basis coefficients which are permutation symmetric.

hep-th↗