arXiv subjects

Yu-tin Huang

Publications and source records attributed to Yu-tin Huang.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

Complete Hamiltonian for spinning binary systems at first post-Minkowskian order

Building upon recent progress in applying on-shell amplitude techniques to classical observables in general relativity, we propose a closed-form formula for the conservative Hamiltonian of a spinning binary system at the 1st post-Minkowskian (1PM) order. It is applicable for general spinning bodies with arbitrary spin multipole moments. The formula is linear in gravitational constant by definition, but exact to all orders in momentum and spin expansions. At each spin order, our formula implies that the spin-dependence and momentum dependence factorize almost completely. We expand our formula in momentum and compare the terms with 1PM parts of the post-Newtonian computations in the literature. Up to canonical transformations, our results agree perfectly with all previous ones. We also compare our formula for black hole to that derived from a spinning test-body near a Kerr black hole via the effective one-body mapping, and find perfect agreement.

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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.

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arXiv2020

The silence of binary Kerr

A non-trivial $\mathcal{S}$-matrix generally implies a production of entanglement: starting with an incoming pure state the scattering generally returns an outgoing state with non-vanishing entanglement entropy. It is then interesting to ask if there exists a non-trivial $\mathcal{S}$-matrix that generates no entanglement. In this letter, we argue that the answer is the scattering of classical black holes. We study the spin-entanglement in the scattering of arbitrary spinning particles. Augmented with Thomas-Wigner rotation factors, we derive the entanglement entropy from the gravitational induced $2\rightarrow 2$ amplitude. In the Eikonal limit, we find that the relative entanglement entropy, defined here as the \textit{difference} between the entanglement entropy of the \textit{in} and \textit{out}-states, is nearly zero for minimal coupling irrespective of the \textit{in}-state, and increases significantly for any non-vanishing spin multipole moments. This suggests that minimal couplings of spinning particles, whose classical limit corresponds to Kerr black hole, has the unique feature of generating near zero entanglement.

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arXiv2020

Classical potential for general spinning bodies

In this paper we compute the spin-dependent terms of the gravitational potential for general spinning bodies at the leading Newton's constant $G$ and to all orders in spin. We utilize the on-shell approach, which extracts the classical potential directly from the scattering amplitude. For spinning particles, extra care is required due to the fact that the spin space of each particle is independent. Once the appropriate matching procedures are applied, taking the classical-spin limit we obtain the potential for general spinning bodies. When the Wilson coefficients are set to unity, we successfully reproduced the potential for the Kerr black hole. Interestingly, for finite spins, we find that the finite-spin deviations from Kerr Wilson coefficients cancel with that in the matching procedure, reproducing the Kerr potential without the need for taking the classical-spin limit. Finally, we find that when cast into the chiral basis, the spin-dependence of minimal coupling exhibits factorization, allowing us to take the classical-spin limit straight forwardly.

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arXiv2020

Carving out the Space of Open-String S-matrix

In this paper, we explore the open string amplitude's dual role as a space-time S-matrix and a 1D CFT correlation function. We pursue this correspondence in two directions. First, beginning with a general disk integrand dressed with a Koba-Nielsen factor, we demonstrate that exchange symmetry for the factorization residue of the amplitude forces the integrand to be expandable on SL(2,R) conformal blocks. Furthermore, positivity constraints associated with unitarity imply the SL(2,R) blocks must come in linear combinations for which the Virasoro block emerges at the "kink" in the space of solutions. In other words, Virasoro symmetry arises at the boundary of consistent factorization. Next, we consider the low energy EFT description, where unitarity manifests as the EFThedron in which the couplings must live. The existence of a worldsheet description implies, through the Koba-Nielsen factor, monodromy relations which impose algebraic identities amongst the EFT couplings. We demonstrate at finite derivative order that the intersection of the "monodromy plane" and the EFThedron carves out a tiny island for the couplings, which continues to shrink as the derivative order is increased. At the eighth derivative order, on a three-dimensional monodromy plane, the intersection fixes the width of this island to around 1.5$\%$ (of $ζ(3)$) and 0.2$\%$ (of $ζ(5)$) with respect to the super string answer. This leads us to conjecture that the four-point open superstring amplitude can be completely determined by the geometry of the intersection of the monodromy plane and the EFThedron.

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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.

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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.

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arXiv2019

The geometry of optimal functionals

In this paper, we give a geometric interpretation of optimal functionals in the context of intersection of symmetry planes and cyclic polytopes. For 1D CFTs, we demonstrate that at given derivative order, the functional is given by a degenerate simplex of the cyclic polytope. More precisely the derivative functionals at $2N{+}1$-th order, is given by an unique $N$-dimensional simplex enclosing the origin. Taking the continuous limit, in the large $Δ$ approximation this qualitatively agrees with that derived by Mazac et al. Remarkably similar construction applies to 2D CFT in the diagonal limit as well as the spin-less modular bootstrap. Finally we show that such geometric interpretation can be extended to functionals associated with bounds beyond the leading operator.

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arXiv2019

The simplest massive S-matrix: from minimal coupling to Black Holes

In this paper, we explore the physics of electromagnetically and gravitationally coupled massive higher spin states from the on-shell point of view. Starting with the three-point amplitude, we focus on the simplest amplitude which is characterized by matching to minimal coupling in the UV. In the IR such amplitude leads to g = 2 for arbitrary charged spin states, and the best high energy behavior for a given spin. We proceed to construct the (gravitational) Compton amplitude for generic spins. We find that the leading deformation away from minimal coupling, in the gravitation sector, will lead to inconsistent factorizations and are thus forbidden. As the corresponding deformation in the gauge sector encodes the anomalous magnetic dipole moment, this leads to the prediction that for systems with gauge2 =gravity relations, such as perturbative string theory, all charged states must have g = 2. It is then natural to ask for generic spin, what is the theory that yields such minimal coupling. By matching to the one body effective action, remarkably we verify that for large spins, the answer is Kerr black holes. This identification is then an on-shell avatar of the no hair theorem. Finally using this identification as well as the newly constructed Compton amplitudes, we proceed to compute the spin dependent pieces for the classical potential at 2PM order up to degree four in spin operator of either black holes.

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arXiv2019

Unitarity bounds on charged/neutral state mass ratio

In this letter, we study the implications of unitary completion of quantum gravity on the low energy spectrums, through an infinite set of unitarity bounds on the forward-limit scattering amplitudes. In three dimensions, we find that light states with charge-to-mass ratio $z$ greater than $1$ can only be consistent if there exists other light states, preferably neutral. Applied to the compactification of the Standard Model, where the low energy couplings are dominated by the electron with $|z|\sim 10^{22}$, this provides a novel understanding of the need for light neutrinos.

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arXiv2019

On the Positive Geometry of Conformal Field Theory

It has long been clear that the conformal bootstrap is associated with a rich geometry. In this paper we undertake a systematic exploration of this geometric structure as an object of study in its own right. We study conformal blocks for the minimal SL(2,R) symmetry present in conformal field theories in all dimensions. Unitarity demands that the Taylor coefficients of the four-point function lie inside a polytope U determined by the operator spectrum, while crossing demands they lie on a plane X. The conformal bootstrap is then geometrically interpreted as demanding a non-empty intersection of U and X. We find that the conformal blocks enjoy a surprising positive determinant property. This implies that U is an example of a famous polytope -- the cyclic polytope. The face structure of cyclic polytopes is completely understood. This lets us fully characterize the intersection U and X by a simple combinatorial rule, leading to a number of new exact statements about the spectrum and four-point function in any conformal field theory.

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arXiv2018

Dualities for Ising networks

In this note, we study the equivalence between planar Ising networks and cells in the positive orthogonal Grassmannian. We present a microscopic construction based on amalgamation, which establishes the correspondence for any planar Ising network. The equivalence allows us to introduce two recursive methods for computing correlators of Ising networks. The first based on duality moves, which generate networks belonging to the same cell in the Grassmannian. This leads to fractal lattices where the recursion formulas become the exact RG equations of the effective couplings. For the second, we use amalgamation where each iteration doubles the size of the seed lattice. This leads to an efficient way of computing the correlator where the complexity scales logarithmically with respect to the number of spin sites.

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arXiv2018

$\mathcal{N}=3$ Harmonic Super-Wilson Loop

We study supersymmetric Wilson loops in $d=3$, $\mathcal{N}=3$ harmonic superspace, leading to a construction of a supersymmetrized generalization of the $\frac{1}{3}$-BPS Wilson loop for $\mathcal{N}=3$ gauge theories. This also includes a generalization of the $\frac{1}{6}$-BPS loop for ABJM theory. We perform a 'one-loop' computation of the vacuum expectation value of this operator directly in superspace and compare with the known $\mathcal{N}=2$ localization results at large $N$. This comparison also lets us identify certain fermionic contributions that do not receive any subleading corrections.

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arXiv2017

On the exactness of soft theorems

Soft behaviours of S-matrix for massless theories reflect the underlying symmetry principle that enforces its masslessness. As an expansion in soft momenta, sub-leading soft theorems can arise either due to (I) unique structure of the fundamental vertex or (II) presence of enhanced broken-symmetries. While the former is expected to be modified by infrared or ultraviolet divergences, the latter should remain exact to all orders in perturbation theory. Using current algebra, we clarify such distinction for spontaneously broken (super) Poincaré and (super) conformal symmetry. We compute the UV divergences of DBI, conformal DBI, and A-V theory to verify the exactness of type (II) soft theorems, while type (I) are shown to be broken and the soft-modifying higher-dimensional operators are identified. As further evidence for the exactness of type (II) soft theorems, we consider the alpha' expansion of both super and bosonic open strings amplitudes, and verify the validity of the translation symmetry breaking soft-theorems up to O(alpha'^6). Thus the massless S-matrix of string theory "knows" about the presence of D-branes.

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arXiv2017

S-matrix singularities and CFT correlation functions

In this note, we explore the correspondence between four-dimensional flat space S-matrix and two-dimensional CFT proposed by Pasterski et al. We demonstrate that the factorization singularities of an n-point cubic diagram reproduces the AdS Witten diagrams if mass conservation is imposed at each vertex. Such configuration arises naturally if we consider the 4-dimensional S-matrix as a compactified massless 5-dimensional theory. This identification allows us to rewrite the massless S-matrix in the CHY formulation, where the factorization singularities are re-interpreted as factorization limits of a Riemann sphere. In this light, the map is recast into a form of 2d/2d correspondence.

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arXiv2016

On the linearity of Regge trajectory at large transfer energy

In this note we consider the four-point function of identical scalar operators in its Mellin representation. For CFTs, taking the large scaling dimension limit of the Mellin amplitude yields the flat-space S-matrix. Using this correspondence, and assuming that the Regge-limit of the Mellin amplitude vanishes, we prove that the resulting flat space S-matrix must have string-like linear Regge trajectory in the limit |s|>>|t|>>1. We also show that the Regge limit of Mellin amplitude is captured by the three-point coefficient of two scalars and one double trace operator in the large-spin limit. Using this, we can see that vanishing Regge behaviour occurs at small t'Hooft limit.

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arXiv2016

Exploring soft constraints on effective actions

We study effective actions for simultaneous breaking of space-time and internal symmetries. Novel features arise due to the mixing of Goldstone modes under the broken symmetries which, in contrast to the usual Adler's zero, leads to non-vanishing soft limits. Such scenarios are common for spontaneously broken SCFT's. We explicitly test these soft theorems for $\mathcal{N}=4$ sYM in the Coulomb branch both perturbatively and non-perturbatively. We explore the soft constraints systematically utilizing recursion relations. In the pure dilaton sector of a general CFT, we show that all amplitudes up to order $s^{n} \sim \partial^{2n}$ are completely determined in terms of the $k$-point amplitudes at order $s^k$ with $k \leq n$. Terms with at most one derivative acting on each dilaton insertion are completely fixed and coincide with those appearing in the conformal DBI, i.e. DBI in AdS. With maximal supersymmetry, the effective actions are further constrained, leading to new non-renormalization theorems. In particular, the effective action is fixed up to eight derivatives in terms of just one unknown four-point coefficient and one more coefficient for ten-derivative terms. Finally, we also study the interplay between scale and conformal invariance in this context.

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arXiv2016

Factorization of Chiral String Amplitudes

We re-examine a closed-string model defined by altering the boundary conditions for one handedness of two-dimensional propagators in otherwise-standard string theory. We evaluate the amplitudes using Kawai-Lewellen-Tye factorization into open-string amplitudes. The only modification to standard string theory is effectively that the spacetime Minkowski metric changes overall sign in one open-string factor. This cancels all but a finite number of states: As found in earlier approaches, with enough supersymmetry (e.g., type II) the tree amplitudes reproduce those of the massless truncation of ordinary string theory. However, we now find for the other cases that additional fields, formerly thought to be auxiliary, describe new spin-2 states at the two adjacent mass levels (tachyonic and tardyonic). The tachyon is always a ghost, but can be avoided in the heterotic case.

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