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Jaroslav Trnka

Publications and source records attributed to Jaroslav Trnka.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Positive geometry, local triangulations, and the dual of the Amplituhedron

We initiate the systematic study of \emph{local positive spaces} which arise in the context of the Amplituhedron construction for scattering amplitudes in planar maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. We show that all local positive spaces relevant for one-loop MHV amplitudes are characterized by certain sign-flip conditions and are associated with surprisingly simple logarithmic forms. In the maximal sign-flip case they are finite one-loop octagons. Particular combinations of sign-flip spaces can be glued into new local positive geometries. These correspond to local pentagon integrands that appear in the local expansion of the MHV one-loop amplitude. We show that, geometrically, these pentagons do \emph{not} triangulate the original Amplituhedron space but rather its twin "Amplituhedron-Prime." This new geometry has the same boundary structure as the Amplituhedron (and therefore the same logarithmic form) but differs in the bulk as a geometric space. On certain two-dimensional boundaries, where the Amplituhedron geometry reduces to a polygon, we check that both spaces map to the same dual polygon. Interestingly, we find that the pentagons internally triangulate that dual space. This gives a direct evidence that the chiral pentagons are natural building blocks for a yet-to-be discovered dual Amplituhedron.

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Building Bases of Loop Integrands

We describe a systematic approach to the construction of loop-integrand bases at arbitrary loop-order, sufficient for the representation of general quantum field theories. We provide a graph-theoretic definition of `power-counting' for multi-loop integrands beyond the planar limit, and show how this can be used to organize bases according to ultraviolet behavior. This allows amplitude integrands to be constructed iteratively. We illustrate these ideas with concrete applications. In particular, we describe complete integrand bases at two loops sufficient to represent arbitrary-multiplicity amplitudes in four (or fewer) dimensions in any massless quantum field theory with the ultraviolet behavior of the Standard Model or better. We also comment on possible extensions of our framework to arbitrary (including regulated) numbers of dimensions, and to theories with arbitrary mass spectra and charges. At three loops, we describe a basis sufficient to capture all `leading-(transcendental-)weight' contributions of any four-dimensional quantum theory; for maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory, this basis should be sufficient to represent all scattering amplitude integrands in the theory---for generic helicities and arbitrary multiplicity.

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Positive Geometries for One-Loop Chiral Octagons

Inspired by the topological sign-flip definition of the Amplituhedron, we introduce similar, but distinct, positive geometries relevant for one-loop scattering amplitudes in planar $\mathcal{N}=4$ super Yang-Mills theory. The simplest geometries are those with the maximal number of sign flips, and turn out to be associated with chiral octagons previously studied in the context of infrared (IR) finite, pure and dual conformal invariant local integrals. Our result bridges two different themes of the modern amplitudes program: positive geometry and Feynman integrals.

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New Soft Theorems for Goldstone Boson Amplitudes

In this letter we discuss new soft theorems for the Goldstone boson amplitudes with non-vanishing soft limits. The standard argument is that the non-linearly realized shift symmetry leads to the vanishing of scattering amplitudes in the soft limit, known as the Alder zero. This statement involves certain assumptions of the absence of cubic vertices and the absence of linear terms in the transformations of fields. For theories which fail to satisfy these conditions, we derive a new soft theorem which involves certain linear combinations of lower point amplitudes, generalizing the Adler zero statement. We provide an explicit example of $SU(N)/SU(N-1)$ sigma model which was also recently studied in the context of $U(1)$ fibrated models. The soft theorem can be then used as an input into the modified soft recursion relations for the reconstruction of all tree-level amplitudes.

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Amplitudes at Infinity

We investigate the asymptotically large loop-momentum behavior of multi-loop amplitudes in maximally supersymmetric quantum field theories in four dimensions. We check residue-theorem identities among color-dressed leading singularities in $\mathcal{N}=4$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory to demonstrate the absence of poles at infinity of all MHV amplitudes through three loops. Considering the same test for $\mathcal{N}=8$ supergravity leads us to discover that this theory does support non-vanishing residues at infinity starting at two loops, and the degree of these poles grow arbitrarily with multiplicity. This causes a tension between simultaneously manifesting ultraviolet finiteness---which would be automatic in a representation obtained by color-kinematic duality---and gauge invariance---which would follow from unitarity-based methods.

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Cutting Deep Into The Amplituhedron

In this letter we compute a canonical set of cuts of the integrand for MHV amplitudes in planar ${\cal N}=4$ SYM, where all internal propagators are put on-shell. These "deepest cuts" probe the most complicated Feynman diagrams and on-shell processes that can possibly contribute to the amplitude, but are also naturally associated with remarkably simple geometric facets of the amplituhedron. The recent reformulation of the amplituhedron in terms of combinatorial geometry directly in the kinematic (momentum-twistor) space plays a crucial role in understanding this geometry and determining the cut. This provides us with the first non-trivial results on scattering amplitudes in the theory valid for arbitrarily many loops and external particle multiplicities.

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UV cancelations in gravity loop integrands

In this work we explore the properties of four-dimensional gravity integrands at large loop momenta. This analysis can not be done directly for the full off-shell integrand but only becomes well-defined on cuts that allow us to unambiguously specify labels for the loop variables. The ultraviolet region of scattering amplitudes originates from poles at infinity of the loop integrands and we show that in gravity these integcrands conceal a number of surprising features. In particular, certain poles at infinity are absent which requires a conspiracy between individual Feynman integrals contributing to the amplitude. We suspect that this non-trivial behavior is a consequence of yet-to-be found symmetry or hidden property of gravity amplitudes. We discuss mainly amplitudes in $\mathcal{N}=8$ supergravity but most of the statements are valid for pure gravity as well.

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Vector Effective Field Theories from Soft Limits

We present a bottom-up construction of vector effective field theories using the infrared structure of scattering amplitudes. Our results employ two distinct probes of soft kinematics: multiple soft limits and single soft limits after dimensional reduction, applicable in four and general dimensions, respectively. Both approaches uniquely specify the Born-Infeld (BI) model as the only theory of vectors completely fixed by certain infrared conditions which generalize the Adler zero for pions. These soft properties imply new recursion relations for on-shell scattering amplitudes in BI theory and suggest the existence of a wider class of vector effective field theories.

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CzeV - The Czech Variable Star Catalogue

We present the first release of the Czech Variable star catalogue that currently contains 1228 stars whose variability was discovered by 60 Czech observers. The catalogue contains confirmed variable stars of various types, but also candidates. We give precise coordinates, cross identification with other catalogues, information about constellation, variability type, brightness, light elements, name of the discoverer and year of discovery. In eighty-eight percent of stars the variability type is estimated, for more than 60 % of the stars the light ephemerides are given.

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Local Integrand Representations of All Two-Loop Amplitudes in Planar SYM

We use generalized unitarity at the integrand-level to directly construct local, manifestly dual-conformally invariant formulae for all two-loop scattering amplitudes in planar, maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory (SYM). This representation separates contributions into manifestly finite and divergent terms---in a way that makes manifest the exponentiation of infrared divergences at the integrand-level. These results perfectly match the all-loop BCFW recursion relations, to which we provide a closed-form solution valid through two-loop-order. Finally, we describe and document a Mathematica package which implements these results, available as part of this work's source files on the arXiv.

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Prescriptive Unitarity

We introduce a prescriptive approach to generalized unitarity, resulting in a strictly-diagonal basis of loop integrands with coefficients given by specifically-tailored residues in field theory. We illustrate the power of this strategy in the case of planar, maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory, where we construct closed-form representations of all ($n$-point N$^k$MHV) scattering amplitudes through three loops. The prescriptive approach contrasts with the ordinary description of unitarity-based methods by avoiding any need for linear algebra to determine integrand coefficients. We describe this approach in general terms as it should have applications to many quantum field theories, including those without planarity, supersymmetry, or massless spectra defined in any number of dimensions.

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Unwinding the Amplituhedron in Binary

We present new, fundamentally combinatorial and topological characterizations of the amplituhedron. Upon projecting external data through the amplituhedron, the resulting configuration of points has a specified (and maximal) generalized 'winding number'. Equivalently, the amplituhedron can be fully described in binary: canonical projections of the geometry down to one dimension have a specified (and maximal) number of 'sign flips' of the projected data. The locality and unitarity of scattering amplitudes are easily derived as elementary consequences of this binary code. Minimal winding defines a natural 'dual' of the amplituhedron. This picture gives us an avatar of the amplituhedron purely in the configuration space of points in vector space (momentum-twistor space in the physics), a new interpretation of the canonical amplituhedron form, and a direct bosonic understanding of the scattering super-amplitude in planar N = 4 SYM as a differential form on the space of physical kinematical data.

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Multi-Loop Positivity of the Planar ${\cal N}=4$ SYM Six-Point Amplitude

We study the six-point NMHV ratio function in planar ${\cal N}=4$ SYM theory in the context of positive geometry. The Amplituhedron construction of the integrand for the amplitudes provides a kinematical region in which the integrand was observed to be positive. It is natural to conjecture that this property survives integration, i.e. that the final result for the ratio function is also positive in this region. Establishing such a result would imply that preserving positivity is a surprising property of the Minkowski contour of integration and it might indicate some deeper underlying structure. We find that the ratio function is positive everywhere we have tested it, including analytic results for special kinematical regions at one and two loops, as well as robust numerical evidence through five loops. There is also evidence for not just positivity, but monotonicity in a "radial" direction. We also investigate positivity of the MHV six-gluon amplitude. While the remainder function ceases to be positive at four loops, the BDS-like normalized MHV amplitude appears to be positive through five loops.

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A Periodic Table of Effective Field Theories

We systematically explore the space of scalar effective field theories (EFTs) consistent with a Lorentz invariant and local S-matrix. To do so we define an EFT classification based on four parameters characterizing 1) the number of derivatives per interaction, 2) the soft properties of amplitudes, 3) the leading valency of the interactions, and 4) the spacetime dimension. Carving out the allowed space of EFTs, we prove that exceptional EFTs like the non-linear sigma model, Dirac-Born-Infeld theory, and the special Galileon lie precisely on the boundary of allowed theory space. Using on-shell momentum shifts and recursion relations, we prove that EFTs with arbitrarily soft behavior are forbidden and EFTs with leading valency much greater than the spacetime dimension cannot have enhanced soft behavior. We then enumerate all single scalar EFTs in d<6 and verify that they correspond to known theories in the literature. Our results suggest that the exceptional theories are the natural EFT analogs of gauge theory and gravity because they are one-parameter theories whose interactions are strictly dictated by properties of the S-matrix.

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Locality and Unitarity from Singularities and Gauge Invariance

We conjecture that the leading two-derivative tree-level amplitudes for gluons and gravitons can be derived from gauge invariance together with mild assumptions on their singularity structure. Assuming locality (that the singularities are associated with the poles of cubic graphs), we prove that gauge-invariance in just (n-1) particles together with minimal power-counting uniquely fixes the amplitude. Unitarity in the form of factorization then follows from locality and gauge invariance. We also give evidence for a stronger conjecture: assuming only that singularities occur when the sum of a subset of external momenta go on-shell, we show in non-trivial examples that gauge-invariance and power-counting demand a graph structure for singularities. Thus both locality and unitarity emerge from singularities and gauge invariance. Similar statements hold for theories of Goldstone bosons like the non-linear sigma model and Dirac-Born-Infeld, by replacing the condition of gauge invariance with an appropriate degree of vanishing in soft limits.

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Gravity On-shell Diagrams

We study on-shell diagrams for gravity theories with any number of supersymmetries and find a compact Grassmannian formula in terms of edge variables of the graphs. Unlike in gauge theory where the analogous form involves only $\dlog$-factors, in gravity there is a non-trivial numerator as well as higher degree poles in the edge variables. Based on the structure of the Grassmannian formula for $\N=8$ supergravity we conjecture that gravity loop amplitudes also possess similar properties. In particular, we find that there are only logarithmic singularities on cuts with finite loop momentum, poles at infinity are present and loop amplitudes show special behavior on certain collinear cuts. We demonstrate on 1-loop and 2-loop examples that the behavior on collinear cuts is a highly non-trivial property which requires cancellations between all terms contributing to the amplitude.

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Logarithmic Singularities and Maximally Supersymmetric Amplitudes

The dual formulation of planar N = 4 super-Yang-Mills scattering amplitudes makes manifest that the integrand has only logarithmic singularities and no poles at infinity. Recently, Arkani-Hamed, Bourjaily, Cachazo and Trnka conjectured the same singularity properties hold to all loop orders in the nonplanar sector as well. Here we conjecture that to all loop orders these constraints give us the key analytic information contained in dual conformal symmetry. We also conjecture that to all loop orders, while N = 8 supergravity has poles at infinity, at least at four points it has only logarithmic singularities at finite locations. We provide nontrivial evidence for these conjectures. For the three-loop four-point N = 4 super-Yang-Mills amplitude, we explicitly construct a complete basis of diagram integrands that has only logarithmic singularities and no poles at infinity. We then express the complete amplitude in terms of the basis diagrams, with the coefficients determined by unitarity. We also give examples at three loops showing how to make the logarithmic singularity properties manifest via dlog forms. We give additional evidence at four and five loops supporting the nonplanar logarithmic singularity conjecture. Furthermore, we present a variety of examples illustrating that these constraints are more restrictive than dual conformal symmetry. Our investigations show that the singularity structures of planar and nonplanar amplitudes in N = 4 super-Yang-Mills are strikingly similar. While it is not clear how to extend either dual conformal symmetry or a dual formulation to the nonplanar sector, these results suggest that related concepts might exist and await discovery. Finally, we describe the singularity structure of N = 8 supergravity at three loops and beyond.

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Evidence for a Nonplanar Amplituhedron

The scattering amplitudes of planar N = 4 super-Yang-Mills exhibit a number of remarkable analytic structures, including dual conformal symmetry and logarithmic singularities of integrands. The amplituhedron is a geometric construction of the integrand that incorporates these structures. This geometric construction further implies the amplitude is fully specified by constraining it to vanish on spurious residues. By writing the amplitude in a dlog basis, we provide nontrivial evidence that these analytic properties and "zero conditions" carry over into the nonplanar sector. This suggests that the concept of the amplituhedron can be extended to the the nonplanar sector of N = 4 super-Yang-Mills theory.

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