Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

Oliver Schlotterer

Publications and source records attributed to Oliver Schlotterer.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
arXiv2020

Two dialects for KZB equations: generating one-loop open-string integrals

Two different constructions generating the low-energy expansion of genus-one configuration-space integrals appearing in one-loop open-string amplitudes have been put forward in \rcites{Mafra:2019xms, *Mafra:2019ddf, Broedel:2019gba}. We are going to show that both approaches can be traced back to an elliptic system of Knizhnik--Zamolodchikov--Bernard(KZB) type on the twice-punctured torus. We derive an explicit all-multiplicity representation of the elliptic KZB system for a vector of iterated integrals with an extra marked point and explore compatibility conditions for the two sets of algebra generators appearing in the two differential equations.

hep-th↗
arXiv2020

Two-loop superstring five-point amplitudes I: Construction via chiral splitting and pure spinors

The full two-loop amplitudes for five massless states in Type~II and Heterotic superstrings are constructed in terms of convergent integrals over the genus-two moduli space of compact Riemann surfaces and integrals of Green functions and Abelian differentials on the surface. The construction combines elements from the BRST cohomology of the pure spinor formulation and from chiral splitting with the help of loop momenta and homology invariance. The $α' \to 0$ limit of the resulting superstring amplitude is shown to be in perfect agreement with the previously known amplitude computed in Type~II supergravity. Investigations of the $α'$ expansion of the Type~II amplitude and comparisons with predictions from S-duality are relegated to a first companion paper. A construction from first principles in the RNS formulation of the genus-two amplitude with five external NS states is relegated to a second companion paper.

hep-th↗
arXiv2020

One-loop Correlators and BCJ Numerators from Forward Limits

We present new formulas for one-loop ambitwistor-string correlators for gauge theories in any even dimension with arbitrary combinations of gauge bosons, fermions and scalars running in the loop. Our results are driven by new all-multiplicity expressions for tree-level two-fermion correlators in the RNS formalism that closely resemble the purely bosonic ones. After taking forward limits of tree-level correlators with an additional pair of fermions/bosons, one-loop correlators become combinations of Lorentz traces in vector and spinor representations. Identities between these two types of traces manifest all supersymmetry cancellations and the power counting of loop momentum. We also obtain parity-odd contributions from forward limits with chiral fermions. One-loop numerators satisfying the Bern-Carrasco-Johansson (BCJ) duality for diagrams with linearized propagators can be extracted from such correlators using the well-established tree-level techniques in Yang-Mills theory coupled to biadjoint scalars. Finally, we obtain streamlined expressions for BCJ numerators up to seven points using multiparticle fields.

hep-th↗
arXiv2020

Generating series of all modular graph forms from iterated Eisenstein integrals

We study generating series of torus integrals that contain all so-called modular graph forms relevant for massless one-loop closed-string amplitudes. By analysing the differential equation of the generating series we construct a solution for its low-energy expansion to all orders in the inverse string tension $α'$. Our solution is expressed through initial data involving multiple zeta values and certain real-analytic functions of the modular parameter of the torus. These functions are built from real and imaginary parts of holomorphic iterated Eisenstein integrals and should be closely related to Brown's recent construction of real-analytic modular forms. We study the properties of our real-analytic objects in detail and give explicit examples to a fixed order in the $α'$-expansion. In particular, our solution allows for a counting of linearly independent modular graph forms at a given weight, confirming previous partial results and giving predictions for higher, hitherto unexplored weights. It also sheds new light on the topic of uniform transcendentality of the $α'$-expansion.

hep-th↗
arXiv2020

All-order alpha'-expansion of one-loop open-string integrals

We present a new method to evaluate the $α'$-expansion of genus-one integrals over open-string punctures and unravel the structure of the elliptic multiple zeta values in its coefficients. This is done by obtaining a simple differential equation of Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov-Bernard-type satisfied by generating functions of such integrals, and solving it via Picard iteration. The initial condition involves the generating functions at the cusp $τ\to i\infty$ and can be reduced to genus-zero integrals.

hep-th↗
arXiv2020

All-order differential equations for one-loop closed-string integrals and modular graph forms

We investigate generating functions for the integrals over world-sheet tori appearing in closed-string one-loop amplitudes of bosonic, heterotic and type-II theories. These closed-string integrals are shown to obey homogeneous and linear differential equations in the modular parameter of the torus. We spell out the first-order Cauchy-Riemann and second-order Laplace equations for the generating functions for any number of external states. The low-energy expansion of such torus integrals introduces infinite families of non-holomorphic modular forms known as modular graph forms. Our results generate homogeneous first- and second-order differential equations for arbitrary such modular graph forms and can be viewed as a step towards all-order low-energy expansions of closed-string integrals.

hep-th↗
arXiv2019

One-loop open-string integrals from differential equations: all-order alpha'-expansions at n points

We study generating functions of moduli-space integrals at genus one that are expected to form a basis for massless $n$-point one-loop amplitudes of open superstrings and open bosonic strings. These integrals are shown to satisfy the same type of linear and homogeneous first-order differential equation w.r.t. the modular parameter $τ$ which is known from the A-elliptic Knizhnik--Zamolodchikov--Bernard associator. The expressions for their $τ$-derivatives take a universal form for the integration cycles in planar and non-planar one-loop open-string amplitudes. These differential equations manifest the uniformly transcendental appearance of iterated integrals over holomorphic Eisenstein series in the low-energy expansion w.r.t. the inverse string tension $α'$. In fact, we are led to matrix representations of certain derivations dual to Eisenstein series. Like this, also the $α'$-expansion of non-planar integrals is manifestly expressible in terms of iterated Eisenstein integrals without referring to twisted elliptic multiple zeta values. The degeneration of the moduli-space integrals at $τ\rightarrow i\infty$ is expressed in terms of their genus-zero analogues -- $(n{+}2)$-point Parke--Taylor integrals over disk boundaries. Our results yield a compact formula for $α'$-expansions of $n$-point integrals over boundaries of cylinder- or Moebius-strip worldsheets, where any desired order is accessible from elementary operations.

hep-th↗
arXiv2019

Towards the n-point one-loop superstring amplitude I: Pure spinors and superfield kinematics

This is the first installment of a series of three papers in which we describe a method to determine higher-point correlation functions in one-loop open-superstring amplitudes from first principles. In this first part, we exploit the synergy between the cohomological features of pure-spinor superspace and the pure-spinor zero-mode integration rules of the one-loop amplitude prescription. This leads to the study of a rich variety of multiparticle superfields which are local, have covariant BRST variations, and are compatible with the particularities of the pure-spinor amplitude prescription. Several objects related to these superfields, such as their non-local counterparts and the so-called BRST pseudo-invariants, are thoroughly reviewed and put into new light. Their properties will turn out to be mysteriously connected to products of one-loop worldsheet functions in packages dubbed "generalized elliptic integrands", whose prominence will be seen in the later parts of this series of papers.

hep-th↗
arXiv2019

Towards the n-point one-loop superstring amplitude II: Worldsheet functions and their duality to kinematics

This is the second installment of a series of three papers in which we describe a method to determine higher-point correlation functions in one-loop open-superstring amplitudes from first principles. In this second part, we study worldsheet functions defined on a genus-one surface built from the coefficient functions of the Kronecker--Einsenstein series. We construct two classes of worldsheet functions whose properties lead to several simplifying features within our description of one-loop correlators with the pure-spinor formalism. The first class is described by functions with prescribed monodromies, whose characteristic shuffle-symmetry property leads to a Lie-polynomial structure when multiplied by the local superfields from part I of this series. The second class is given by so-called generalized elliptic integrands (GEIs) that are constructed using the same combinatorial patterns of the BRST pseudo-invariant superfields from part I. Both of them lead to compact and combinatorially rich expressions for the correlators in part III. The identities obeyed by the two classes of worldsheet functions exhibit striking parallels with those of the superfield kinematics. We will refer to this phenomenon as a duality between worldsheet functions and kinematics.

hep-th↗
arXiv2019

Towards the n-point one-loop superstring amplitude III: One-loop correlators and their double-copy structure

In this final part of a series of three papers, we will assemble supersymmetric expressions for one-loop correlators in pure-spinor superspace that are BRST invariant, local, and single valued. A key driving force in this construction is the generalization of a so far unnoticed property at tree level; the correlators have the symmetry structure akin to Lie polynomials. One-loop correlators up to seven points are presented in a variety of representations manifesting different subsets of their defining properties. These expressions are related via identities obeyed by the kinematic superfields and worldsheet functions spelled out in the first two parts of this series and reflecting a duality between the two kinds of ingredients. Interestingly, the expression for the eight-point correlator following from our method seems to capture correctly all the dependence on the worldsheet punctures but leaves undetermined the coefficient of the holomorphic Eisenstein series ${\rm G}_4$. By virtue of chiral splitting, closed-string correlators follow from the double copy of the open-string results.

hep-th↗
arXiv2019

Heterotic-string amplitudes at one loop: modular graph forms and relations to open strings

We investigate one-loop four-point scattering of non-abelian gauge bosons in heterotic string theory and identify new connections with the corresponding open-string amplitude. In the low-energy expansion of the heterotic-string amplitude, the integrals over torus punctures are systematically evaluated in terms of modular graph forms, certain non-holomorphic modular forms. For a specific torus integral, the modular graph forms in the low-energy expansion are related to the elliptic multiple zeta values from the analogous open-string integrations over cylinder boundaries. The detailed correspondence between these modular graph forms and elliptic multiple zeta values supports a recent proposal for an elliptic generalization of the single-valued map at genus zero.

hep-th↗
arXiv2018

Closed strings as single-valued open strings: A genus-zero derivation

Based on general mathematical assumptions we give an independent, elementary derivation of a theorem by Francis Brown and Clément Dupont which states that tree-level amplitudes of closed and open strings are related through the single-valued map `sv'. This relation can be traced back to the underlying moduli-space integrals over punctured Riemann surfaces of genus zero. The sphere integrals $J$ in closed-string amplitudes and the disk integrals $Z$ in open-string amplitudes are shown to obey $J = {\rm sv} \, Z$.

hep-th↗
arXiv2018

Berends-Giele currents in Bern-Carrasco-Johansson gauge for $F^3$- and $F^4$-deformed Yang-Mills amplitudes

We construct new representations of tree-level amplitudes in D-dimensional gauge theories with deformations via higher-mass-dimension operators $α' F^3$ and $α'^{2} F^4$. Based on Berends-Giele recursions, the tensor structure of these amplitudes is compactly organized via off-shell currents. On the one hand, we present manifestly cyclic representations, where the complexity of the currents is systematically reduced. On the other hand, the duality between color and kinematics due to Bern, Carrasco and Johansson is manifested by means of non-linear gauge transformations of the currents. We exploit the resulting notion of Bern-Carrasco-Johansson gauge to provide explicit and manifestly local double-copy representations for gravitational amplitudes involving $α' R^2$ and $α'^2 R^3$ operators.

hep-th↗
arXiv2018

Twisted elliptic multiple zeta values and non-planar one-loop open-string amplitudes

We consider a generalization of elliptic multiple zeta values, which we call twisted elliptic multiple zeta values. These arise as iterated integrals on an elliptic curve from which a rational lattice has been removed. At the cusp, twisted elliptic multiple zeta values are shown to degenerate to cyclotomic multiple zeta values in the same way as elliptic multiple zeta values degenerate to classical multiple zeta values. We investigate properties of twisted elliptic multiple zeta values and consider them in the context of the non-planar part of the four-point one-loop open-string amplitude.

hep-th↗
arXiv2018

Fermionic one-loop amplitudes of the RNS superstring

We investigate massless n-point one-loop amplitudes of the open RNS superstring with two external fermions and determine their worldsheet integrands. The contributing correlation functions involving spin-1/2 and spin-3/2 operators from the fermion vertices are evaluated to any multiplicity. Moreover, we introduce techniques to sum these correlators over the spin structures of the worldsheet fermions such as to manifest all cancellations due to spacetime supersymmetry. These spin sums require generalizations of the Riemann identities among Jacobi theta functions, and the results can be expressed in terms of doubly-periodic functions known from the mathematics literature on elliptic multiple zeta values. On the boundary of moduli space, our spin-summed correlators specialize to compact representations of fermionic one-loop integrands for ambitwistor strings.

hep-th↗
arXiv2018

Semi-abelian Z-theory: NLSM+phi^3 from the open string

We continue our investigation of Z-theory, the second double-copy component of open-string tree-level interactions besides super-Yang-Mills (sYM). We show that the amplitudes of the extended non-linear sigma model (NLSM) recently considered by Cachazo, Cha, and Mizera are reproduced by the leading alpha'-order of Z-theory amplitudes in the semi-abelian case. The extension refers to a coupling of NLSM pions to bi-adjoint scalars, and the semi-abelian case involves to a partial symmetrization over one of the color orderings that characterize the Z-theory amplitudes. Alternatively, the partial symmetrization corresponds to a mixed interaction among abelian and non-abelian states in the underlying open-superstring amplitude. We simplify these permutation sums via monodromy relations which greatly increase the efficiency in extracting the alpha'-expansion of these amplitudes. Their alpha'-corrections encode higher-derivative interactions between NLSM pions and bi-colored scalars all of which obey the duality between color and kinematics. Through double-copy, these results can be used to generate the predictions of supersymmetric Dirac-Born-Infeld-Volkov-Akulov theory coupled with sYM as well as a complete tower of higher-order alpha'-corrections.

hep-th↗
arXiv2018

Double-Copy Structure of One-Loop Open-String Amplitudes

In this Letter, we provide evidence for a new double-copy structure in one-loop amplitudes of the open superstring. Their integrands with respect to the moduli space of genus-one surfaces are cast into a form where gauge-invariant kinematic factors and certain functions of the punctures -- so-called generalized elliptic integrands -- enter on completely symmetric footing. In particular, replacing the generalized elliptic integrands by a second copy of kinematic factors maps one-loop open-string correlators to gravitational matrix elements of the higher-curvature operator R^4.

hep-th↗