SearcharxivSearch

arXiv subjects

Stephan Stieberger

Publications and source records attributed to Stephan Stieberger.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Scattering of Null strings - Flipped Vacuum & CHY

We investigate the scattering of null tensionless strings. Classical null strings, given by the ILST action, give rise to three distinct quantum theories built on different vacua and representations of the underlying 2d Conformal Carroll algebra (CCA) which form the residual gauge symmetries on the null worldsheet. In this paper, we are interested in the quantum theory built out of the so-called ``flipped'' vacuum which realises the highest weight representation of the 2d CCA. By considering a novel class of vertex operators, intimately connected to the compactified null string, we build scattering amplitudes of the theory. We show that one naturally obtains the Cachazo-He-Yuan (CHY) formulae when one considers scattering of massless states in the null ``flipped'' string.

hep-th

Double Copy from the Flipped Null String

We study the double-copy structure of tree amplitudes of the bosonic null string in the flipped vacuum. We show that its level-one vector correlator supplies the Cachazo-He-Yuan (CHY) kinematic half-integrand of the higher-derivative $(DF)^2$ gauge theory, while distinguished compact momentum-winding sectors generate the complementary Parke-Taylor factor. For factorized level-two states, the same Carrollian world-sheet produces two kinematic half-integrands and hence the symmetric double copy to the six-derivative Weyl-cubed graviton sector. Lattice sectors with common external momenta reproduce the Bern-Carrasco-Johansson (BCJ) ordering relation and the corresponding field-theory Kawai-Lewellen-Tye (KLT) representation. These results provide a direct Carrollian world-sheet origin of the double copy and point toward a current-algebra realization of the emergent color sector compatible with the $O(d,d)$ structure of the compact lattice.

hep-th

Subleading Collinear Limits of Yang--Mills Amplitudes from Recursions

We study the subleading adjacent-collinear limit of tree-level color-ordered Yang--Mills amplitudes. In general dimensions, a Lorentz null rotation transports the polarizations of collinear legs along the collinear path while preserving transversality and gauge equivalence. The finite coefficient then separates into a pole-free hard contribution, computed by a channel-deleted Berends--Giele recursion, and an explicit contribution from the adjacent factorization channel. In four dimensions, we construct the same coefficient directly from a collinear-aware Britto-Cachazo-Feng-Witten recursion whose terminal data are closed MHV and $\overline{\rm MHV}$ formulas. Both constructions apply at arbitrary momentum fraction and extend to collinear gluons with distinct polarizations; at the symmetric split, the auxiliary-vector dependence cancels for equal polarizations and for the polarization-symmetrized mixed limit. Open--closed disk relations then give a direct construction of one-graviton Einstein--Yang--Mills amplitudes and their higher-derivative string corrections from the recursively generated coefficients. A self-contained \textsc{Mathematica} implementation accompanies the paper.

hep-th

Subleading Collinear Limits of Yang-Mills Amplitudes from Gravity

We show that the subleading collinear sector of Yang-Mills (YM) amplitudes is controlled by ordinary Einstein-Yang-Mills (EYM) amplitudes and their higher-derivative corrections. The complete set of strict subleading collinear limits associated with an equal-helicity collinear pair can be extracted from open-closed string disk amplitudes. The latter generate $\frac12 (n-3)!$ BCJ-like relations with non-linear kinematic coefficients, reducing the $(n-3)!$ collinear data to a basis of dimension $\frac12 (n-3)!$. This reduced basis can be represented by gravitational amplitudes in EYM theories and by their higher-derivative open-string corrections. At multiplicity $n$ this gravitational basis consists of the $(n-4)!$ independent EYM subamplitudes together with $\frac12 (n-5)(n-4)!$ higher-order corrections involving one graviton and $n-2$ gluons. The resulting decomposition is governed by unsigned Stirling numbers of the first kind: the ordinary EYM amplitudes correspond to the sector $\left[{n-3\atop 1}\right]$, the higher-order BCJ-like relations to even sectors $\left[{n-3\atop 2j}\right]$, and the higher-derivative EYM corrections to odd sectors $\left[{n-3\atop 2j+1}\right]$ with $j\geq 1$.

hep-th

Resurgence of high-energy string amplitudes

We analyze the fixed-angle high-energy ($\alpha' \to \infty$) structure of $n$-point tree-level string amplitudes from complementary perspectives: locally via saddle-point expansions, algebraically via difference equations and their asymptotic structure, analytically via Aomoto-Gauss-Manin connection and Mellin-Barnes representation, and geometrically via twisted intersection theory and Lefschetz thimbles. Using, in turn, saddle-point analysis and finite-difference equations in the kinematic variables, we show that the perturbative coefficients in the resulting asymptotic series in $1/\alpha'$ are organized by Bernoulli-number data, rather than by the multiple zeta values characteristic of the low-energy $\alpha' \to 0$ regime. Resurgence theory allows upgrading these divergent series to transseries whose Stokes data capture the analytic continuation between unphysical and physical kinematic regions in the form of non-perturbative monodromy contributions. We derive the transseries for four-point open string amplitudes explicitly. We also construct a differential and Mellin formulation which place their low- and high-energy expansions in a common analytic framework and unifies them as asymptotic sectors of the same underlying object. We extend the difference-equation analysis to $n \geq 5$, where it yields perturbative high-energy asymptotic expansions and leads naturally to a higher-rank connection problem. Finally, translating our asymptotic analysis into the language of twisted de Rham theory, we derive an alternative double-copy representation of the high-energy limit of closed-string amplitudes in terms of Lefschetz thimbles for any $n$.

hep-th

On Positive Celestial Geometry: ABHY in the Sky

Celestial amplitudes are multiple Mellin transforms w.r.t. conformal dimensions. For arbitrary multiplicity $n$ of massless states in sufficiently high space--time dimension $D$ we perform all Mellin integrations and find an associahedron description in celestial space. The latter expresses celestial tree--level $\phi^3$ amplitudes as the canonical forms associated with this positive geometry. This yields a geometric interpretation of celestial amplitudes in terms of the underlying boundary geometry. Our universal treatment of Mellin integrals in $D$ dimensions also provides a unified description of celestial amplitudes arising from different bulk theories.

hep-th

High Energy String Theory and the Celestial Sphere

We elaborate on a string world-sheet connection to flat space-time holography. More specifically, in the high energy (zero tension) limit of tree-level string scattering in flat backgrounds the underlying string world-sheets can be related to the celestial sphere, with the saddle points of the high energy string description representing points on the celestial sphere. We show that this picture continues to hold at all subleading orders in the quantum fluctuations around this classical configuration. As a consequence there is a dual description of the high energy limit of string theory as the large energy expansion on the celestial sphere organized by (light) higher spin modes. This approach points to an intrinsic construction of celestial conformal field theory (CFT) by relating it to a (free) world-sheet CFT of string theory. We also elaborate on the high energy representations of tree-level open and closed string amplitudes and work out their subleading corrections. Their number theoretic properties and relevance as amplitudes of tensionless strings are discussed.

hep-th

Superstring scattering on the real projective plane

Superstring scattering from orientifold planes requires considering string amplitudes on world-sheets with crosscaps with the lowest order case (in string coupling constant) having the topology of the real projective plane. While amplitudes on the latter have been formulated for the trivial one- and two-point cases in this work we go beyond these cases thereby solving various technicalities. The latter include reducing the complex world-sheet integration of closed string insertions over the real projective plane to pure real open string integrals. As a result we find that scattering of $n$ closed strings on the real projective plane can be expressed in terms of disk amplitudes involving $2n$ open strings. In this work we explicitly work out in pure spinor formalism the case $n=3$ which can be written as a linear combination of two (gauge-invariant) six open string amplitudes. We also present the low-energy expansion of this result necessary to construct closed string couplings on orientifold planes.

hep-th

Differential Equations for Carrollian Amplitudes

Differential equations are powerful tools in the study of correlation functions in conformal field theories (CFTs). Carrollian amplitudes behave as correlation functions of Carrollian CFT that holographically describes asymptotically flat spacetime. We derive linear differential equations satisfied by Carrollian MHV gluon and graviton amplitudes. We obtain non-distributional solutions for both the gluon and graviton cases. We perform various consistency checks for these differential equations, including compatibility with conformal Carrollian symmetries.

hep-th

One-loop Double Copy Relation from Twisted (Co)homology

We propose a geometric relation between closed and open string amplitudes at one-loop. After imposing a homological splitting on the world-sheet torus twisted intersection theory is used to establish a one-loop double copy relation. The latter expresses a closed string amplitude by a pair of open string amplitudes and twisted intersection numbers. These inner products on the vector space of allowed differential forms are related to the twisted homology and cohomology groups associated with the Riemann-Wirtinger integral.

hep-th

Carrollian Amplitudes from Strings

Carrollian holography is supposed to describe gravity in four-dimensional asymptotically flat space-time by the three-dimensional Carrollian CFT living at null infinity. We transform superstring scattering amplitudes into the correlation functions of primary fields of Carrollian CFT depending on the three-dimensional coordinates of the celestial sphere and a retarded time coordinate. The power series in the inverse string tension is converted to a whole tower of both UV and IR finite descendants of the underlying field-theoretical Carrollian amplitude. We focus on four-point amplitudes involving gauge bosons and gravitons in type I open superstring theory and in closed heterotic superstring theory at the tree-level. We also discuss the limit of infinite retarded time coordinates, where the string world-sheet becomes celestial.

hep-th

Yang-Mills as a Liouville Theory

We propose a description of the gluon scattering amplitudes as the inverse Mellin transforms of the conformal correlators of light operators in two-dimensional Liouville theory tensored with WZW-like chiral currents on the celestial sphere. The dimensions of operators are Mellin dual to gluon light cone energies while their positions are determined by the gluon momentum directions. Tree-level approximation in Yang-Mills theory corresponds to the semiclassical limit of Liouville theory. By comparing subleading corrections, we find $b^2= (8\pi^2)^{-1}\beta_0 \,g^2(M)$, where $b$ is the Liouville coupling constant, $g(M)$ is the Yang Mills coupling at the renormalization scale $M$ and $\beta_0$ is the one-loop coefficient of the Yang-Mills beta function.

hep-th

Scattering three closed strings off a Dp-brane in pure spinor formalism

We compute the disk amplitude of three closed strings in the pure spinor formalism. Among others, this amplitude probes tree-level gravitational interactions in the presence of Dp-branes. After disentangling holomorphic and anti-holomorphic closed string coordinates on the disk by means of introducing monodromy phases we find a compact expression for the disk amplitude of three closed strings in terms of open superstring six-point amplitudes. Furthermore, we provide the low-energy expansion (in the inverse string tension) of our amplitude and discuss some relevant Dp-brane couplings associated to it. Finally, we write down an expression for the general structure of the disk amplitude of any number n_c of closed strings in terms of pure open string amplitudes involving 2n_c open strings.

hep-th

A stringy massive double copy

We derive a massive double copy construction within string theory. To this end, we use massive vectors of the open string spectrum that appear in compactifications to four dimensions and construct massive spin-2 tensors as closed string states, thereby mimicking the structure of the massless graviton. We then compute three-point amplitudes for the scattering of massless and massive spin-2 closed string states and reveal the double copy structure of the latter. With these results being finite in the string scale, we are further able to reproduce the cubic Lagrangian of ghost-free bimetric theory around flat spacetime for bulk massive spin-2 states originating in products of vectors of extended brane supersymmetry.

hep-th

Intersections of Twisted Forms: New Theories and Double Copies

Tree-level scattering amplitudes of particles have a geometrical description in terms of intersection numbers of pairs of twisted differential forms on the moduli space of Riemann spheres with punctures. We customize a catalog of twisted differential forms containing both already known and new differential forms. By pairing elements from this list intersection numbers of various theories can be furnished to compute their scattering amplitudes. Some of the latter are familiar through their CHY description, but others are unknown. Likewise, certain pairings give rise to various known and novel double-copy constructions of spin-two theories. This way we find double copy constructions for many theories, including higher derivative gravity, (partial massless) bimetric gravity and some more exotic theories. Furthermore, we present a derivation of amplitude relations in intersection theory.

hep-th

Celestial Liouville Theory for Yang-Mills Amplitudes

We consider Yang-Mills theory with the coupling constant and theta angle determined by the vacuum expectation values of a dynamical (complex) dilaton field. We discuss the tree-level N-gluon MHV scattering amplitudes in the presence of a nontrivial background dilaton field and construct the corresponding celestial amplitudes by taking Mellin transforms with respect to the lightcone energies. In this way, we obtain two-dimensional CFT correlators of primary fields on the celestial sphere. We show that the celestial Yang-Mills amplitudes evaluated in the presence of a spherical dilaton shockwave are given by the correlation functions of primary field operators factorized into the holomorphic current operators times the "light" Liouville operators. They are evaluated in the semiclassical limit of Liouville theory (the limit of infinite central charge) and are determined by the classical Liouville field describing metrics on the celestial sphere.

hep-th

Celestial Yang-Mills Amplitudes and D=4 Conformal Blocks

We discuss the properties of recently constructed "single-valued" celestial four-gluon amplitudes. We show that the amplitude factorizes into the "current" part and the "scalar" part. The current factor is given by the group-dependent part of the Wess-Zumino-Witten correlator of four holomorphic currents with a non-vanishing level of Kač-Moody algebra. The scalar factor can be expressed in terms of a complex integral of the Koba-Nielsen form, similar to the integrals describing four-point correlators in Coulomb gas models and, more generally, in the infinite central charge limit of Liouville theory. The scalar part can be also obtained by a dimensional reduction of a single D=4 conformal block and the shadow block from Minkowski space to the celestial sphere.

hep-th

Elements of Celestial Conformal Field Theory

In celestial holography, four-dimensional scattering amplitudes are considered as two-dimensional conformal correlators of a putative two-dimensional celestial conformal field theory (CCFT). The simplest way of converting momentum space amplitudes into CCFT correlators is by taking their Mellin transforms with respect to light-cone energies. For massless particles, like gluons, however, such a construction leads to three-point and four-point correlators that vanish everywhere except for a measure zero hypersurface of celestial coordinates. This is due to the four-dimensional momentum conservation law that constrains the insertion points of the operators associated with massless particles. These correlators are reminiscent of Coulomb gas correlators that, in the absence of background charges, vanish due to charge conservation. We supply the background momentum by coupling Yang-Mills theory to a background dilaton field, with the (complex) dilaton source localized on the celestial sphere. This picture emerges from the physical interpretation of the solutions of the system of differential equations discovered by Banerjee and Ghosh. We show that the solutions can be written as Mellin transforms of the amplitudes evaluated in such a dilaton background. The resultant three-gluon and four-gluon amplitudes are single-valued functions of celestial coordinates enjoying crossing symmetry and all other properties expected from standard CFT correlators. We use them to extract OPEs and compare them with the OPEs extracted from multi-gluon celestial amplitudes without a dilaton background. We perform the conformal block decomposition of the four-gluon single-valued correlator and determine the dimensions, spin and group representations of the entire primary field spectrum of the Yang-Mills sector of CCFT.

hep-th