arXiv subjects

Yvonne Geyer

Publications and source records attributed to Yvonne Geyer.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Superstring amplitudes from BCJ numerators at one loop

We find a direct map that determines moduli-space integrands for one-loop superstring amplitudes in terms of field-theory loop integrands in the BCJ form. The latter can be computed using efficient unitarity methods, so our map provides an alternative to worldsheet CFT techniques. This construction is a one-loop higher-point analogue of a recent conjecture for the three-loop four-point superstring amplitude. Based on the one-loop chiral-splitting representation, we show how all coefficients of an ansatz for the superstring can be identified with field-theory BCJ numerators, up to at least 7-point amplitudes. Moreover, we obtain partial results for all higher-point amplitudes. The monodromy constraints associated to chiral splitting play a crucial role in determining coefficients of the ansatz that, naively, are not fixed by the field-theory limit. Taking a field-theory perspective, our ansatz for the superstring implies by construction the existence of one-loop BCJ numerators at any multiplicity.

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arXiv2023

Massive ambitwistor-strings; twistorial models

Ambitwistor-strings are chiral strings whose targets are spaces of complex massless particles, and whose correlation functions directly lead to simple, compact formulae for scattering amplitudes and loop integrands for massless gauge and gravity theories. This article extends this framework to worldsheet models for massive particles in 4d, obtained via a symmetry reduction of a higher dimensional massless model. The target space of the resulting models turns out to be the phase space of 4d massive particles in a twistorial representation, and so the worldsheet theory agrees with the two-twistor string previously introduced by the authors. However, the paper has been written so as to be largely self-contained. We discuss two interesting classes of massive theories in detail. For gauge theories, the reduction procedure is explicitly adapted to supersymmetric gauge theories on the Coulomb branch. For supergravity theories, the reduction is adapted to give theories obtained via Cremmer, Scherk and Schwartz (CSS) reduction, with broken supersymmetry and massive multiplets. The reduction procedure gives explicit and systematic rules to obtain amplitudes for all these theories and their amplitudes from two compact master formulae that have their origins in 6d based on the polarized scattering equations; in the CSS case the formulae are new, and in both cases their derivation is systematic. The freedom to include mass allows the definition of a loop insertion operator, thereby extending the formulae to 1-loop. Unlike the massless 4d twistorial models, these all display a perfect double copy structure, here incorporating massive particles in the relationship between gauge theory and CSS supergravity amplitudes.

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arXiv2023

The SAGEX Review on Scattering Amplitudes

This is an introduction to, and invitation to read, a series of review articles on scattering amplitudes in gauge theory, gravity, and superstring theory. Our aim is to provide an overview of the field, from basic aspects to a selection of current (2022) research and developments.

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arXiv2022

From Twistor-Particle Models to Massive Amplitudes

In his twistor-particle programme of the 1970's, Roger Penrose introduced a representation of the massive particle phase space in terms of a pair of twistors subject to an internal symmetry group. Here we use this representation to introduce a chiral string whose target is a complexification of this space, extended so as to incorporate supersymmetry. We show that the gauge anomalies associated to the internal symmetry group vanish only for maximal supersymmetry, and that correlators in these string models describe amplitudes involving massive particles with manifest supersymmetry. The models and amplitude formulae exhibit a double copy structure from gauge theory on the Coulomb branch to gravity, although the graviton remains massless. The formulae are closely related to those obtained earlier by the authors expressed in terms of the polarised scattering equations.

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arXiv2022

The SAGEX Review on Scattering Amplitudes, Chapter 6: Ambitwistor Strings and Amplitudes from the Worldsheet

Starting with Witten's twistor string, chiral string theories have emerged that describe field theory amplitudes without the towers of massive states of conventional strings. These models are known as ambitwistor strings due to their target space; the space of complexified null geodesics, also called ambitwistor space. Correlators in these string theories directly yield compact formulae for tree-level amplitudes and loop integrands, in the form of worldsheet integrals fully localized on solutions to constraints known as the scattering equations. In this chapter, we discuss two incarnations of the ambitwistor string: a 'vector representation' starting in space-time and structurally resembling the RNS superstring, and a four-dimensional twistorial version closely related to, but distinct from Witten's original model. The RNS-like models exist for several theories, with 'heterotic' and type II models describing super-Yang-Mills and 10d supergravities respectively, and they manifest the double copy relations directly at the level of the worldsheet models. In the second half of the chapter, we explain how the underlying models lead to diverse applications, ranging from extensions to new sectors of theories, loop amplitudes and to scattering on curved backgrounds. We conclude with a brief discussion of connections to conventional strings and celestial holography.

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arXiv2021

Superstring loop amplitudes from the field theory limit

We propose a procedure to determine the moduli-space integrands of loop-level superstring amplitudes for massless external states in terms of the field theory limit. We focus on the type II superstring. The procedure is to: (i) take a supergravity loop integrand written in a BCJ double-copy representation, (ii) use the loop-level scattering equations to translate that integrand into the ambitwistor string moduli-space integrand, localised on the nodal Riemann sphere, and (iii) uplift that formula to one on the higher-genus surface valid for the superstring, guided by modular invariance. We show how this works for the four-point amplitude at two loops, where we reproduce the known answer, and at three loops, where we present a conjecture that is consistent with a previous proposal for the chiral measure. Useful supergravity results are currently known up to five loops.

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arXiv2021

Ambitwistor Strings in Six and Five Dimensions

Ambitwistor strings are chiral (holomorphic) strings whose target is the space of complex null geodesics, ambitwistor space. We introduce twistor representations of ambitwistor space in 6 and 5 dimensions. In 6d the twistor representation is naturally conformally invariant. Anomaly cancellation leads to models that describe biadjoint scalar amplitudes and certain conformally invariant gauge and gravity theories, respectively of 4$^{\rm th}$ and 6$^{\rm th}$ order. There are three such models, reflecting triality for the conformal group SO(8) associated to these 6d models. On reduction to five dimensions, gauge anomaly cancellation requires supersymmetry and the resulting models describe maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills and gravity. The twistor representation of these ambitwistor strings lead to formulæ for maximally supersymmetric gauge and gravity amplitudes based on the polarized scattering equations in 5d, found earlier by the first two authors.

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arXiv2020

Propagators, BCFW Recursion and New Scattering Equations at One Loop

We investigate how loop-level propagators arise from tree level via a forward-limit procedure in two modern approaches to scattering amplitudes, namely the BCFW recursion relations and the scattering equations formalism. In the first part of the paper, we revisit the BCFW construction of one-loop integrands in momentum space, using a convenient parametrisation of the D-dimensional loop momentum. We work out explicit examples with and without supersymmetry, and discuss the non-planar case in both gauge theory and gravity. In the second part of the paper, we study an alternative approach to one-loop integrands, where these are written as worldsheet formulas based on new one-loop scattering equations. These equations, which are inspired by BCFW, lead to standard Feynman-type propagators, instead of the `linear'-type loop-level propagators that first arose from the formalism of ambitwistor strings. We exploit the analogies between the two approaches, and present a proof of an all-multiplicity worldsheet formula using the BCFW recursion.

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arXiv2020

Recursion and worldsheet formulae for 6d superamplitudes

Recently two of the authors presented a spinorial extension of the scattering equations, the `polarized scattering equations' that incorporates spinor polarization data. These led to new worldsheet amplitude formulae for a variety of gauge, gravity and brane theories in six dimensions that naturally incorporate fermions and directly extend to maximal supersymmetry. This paper provides a number of improvements to the original formulae, together with extended details of the construction, examples and full proofs of some of the formulae by BCFW recursion and factorization. We show how our formulae reduce to corresponding formulae for maximally supersymmetric gauge, gravity and brane theories in five and four dimensions. In four dimensions our framework naturally gives the twistorial version of the 4d ambitwistor string, giving new insights into the nature of the refined and polarized scattering equations they give rise to, and on the relations between its measure and the CHY measure. Our formulae exhibit a natural double-copy structure being built from `half-integrands'. We give further discussion of the matrix of theories and formulae to which our half-integrands give rise, including controversial formulae for amplitudes involving Gerbes.

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arXiv2020

Supersymmetric S-matrices from the worldsheet in 10 and 11d

We obtain compact formulae for tree super-amplitudes for 10 and 11-dimensional supergravity and 10-dimensional supersymmetric Yang-Mills and Born-Infeld. These are based on the \emph{polarised scattering equations}. These incorporate polarization data into a spinor field on the Riemann sphere and arise from a twistorial representation of ambitwistor strings in 10 and 11 dimensions. They naturally extend amplitude formulae to manifest maximal supersymmetry. The framework is the natural generalization of twistorial ambitwistor string formulae found previously in four and six dimensions and is informally motivated from a vertex operator prescription for a family of supersymmetric worldsheet ambitwistor string models.

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arXiv2019

Two-Loop Scattering Amplitudes: Double-Forward Limit and Colour-Kinematics Duality

We propose new formulae for the two-loop n-point D-dimensional integrands of scattering amplitudes in Yang-Mills theory and gravity. The loop integrands are written as a double-forward limit of tree-level trivalent diagrams, and are inferred from the formalism of the two-loop scattering equations. We discuss the relationship between the formulae for non-supersymmetric theories and the Neveu-Schwarz sector of the formulae for maximally supersymmetric theories, which can be derived from ambitwistor strings. An important property of the loop integrands is that they are expressed in a representation that includes linear-type propagators. This representation exhibits a loop-level version of the colour-kinematics duality, which follows directly from tree level via the double-forward limit.

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arXiv2018

Two-Loop Scattering Amplitudes from Ambitwistor Strings: from Genus Two to the Nodal Riemann Sphere

We derive from ambitwistor strings new formulae for two-loop scattering amplitudes in supergravity and super-Yang-Mills theory, with any number of particles. We start by constructing a formula for the type II ambitwistor string amplitudes on a genus-two Riemann surface, and then study the localisation of the moduli space integration on a degenerate limit, where the genus-two surface turns into a Riemann sphere with two nodes. This leads to scattering amplitudes in supergravity, expressed in the formalism of the two-loop scattering equations. For super-Yang-Mills theory, we import `half' of the supergravity result, and determine the colour dependence by considering a current algebra on the nodal Riemann sphere, thereby completely specifying the two-loop analogue of the Parke-Taylor factor, including non-planar contributions. We also present in appendices explicit expressions for the Szego kernels and the partition functions for even spin structures, up to the relevant orders in the degeneration parameters, which may be useful for related investigations in conventional superstring theory.

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arXiv2018

The polarized scattering equations for 6d superamplitudes

We introduce a spinorial version of the scattering equations, the \emph{polarized scattering equations}, that incorporates spinor polarization data. They lead to new formulae for tree-level scattering amplitudes in six dimensions that directly extend to maximal supersymmetry. They give a quite distinct framework from that of Cachazo et al.; in particular, the formulae do not change character from even to odd numbers of particles. We find new ingredients for integrands for maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills, gravity, M5 and D5 branes. We explain how the polarized scattering equations and supersymmetry representations arise from an ambitwistor-string with target given by a super-twistor description of the geometry of super-ambitwistor space for six dimensions. On reduction to four dimensions the polarized scattering equations give rise to massive analogues of the 4d refined scattering equations for amplitudes on the Coulomb branch. At zero mass this framework naturally generalizes the twistorial version of the ambitwistor string in four dimensions.

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arXiv2018

Gluons and gravitons at one loop from ambitwistor strings

We present new and explicit formulae for the one-loop integrands of scattering amplitudes in non-supersymmetric gauge theory and gravity, valid for any number of particles. The results exhibit the colour-kinematics duality in gauge theory and the double-copy relation to gravity, in a form that was recently observed in supersymmetric theories. The new formulae are expressed in a particular representation of the loop integrand, with only one quadratic propagator, which arises naturally from the framework of the loop-level scattering equations. The starting point in our work are the expressions based on the scattering equations that were recently derived from ambitwistor string theory. We turn these expressions into explicit formulae depending only on the loop momentum, the external momenta and the external polarisations. These formulae are valid in any number of spacetime dimensions for pure Yang-Mills theory (gluon) and its natural double copy, NS-NS gravity (graviton, dilaton, B-field), and we also present formulae in four spacetime dimensions for pure gravity (graviton). We perform several tests of our results, such as checking gauge invariance and directly matching our four-particle formulae to previously known expressions. While these tests would be elaborate in a Feynman-type representation of the loop integrand, they become straightforward in the representation we use.

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arXiv2016

Ambitwistor Strings: Worldsheet Approaches to perturbative Quantum Field Theories

Tree-level scattering amplitudes in massless theories not only exhibit a simplicity entirely unexpected from Feynman diagrams, but also an underlying structure remarkably reminiscent of worldsheet theory correlators. These features can be explained by ambitwistor strings - two-dimensional chiral conformal field theories in an auxiliary target space, the complexified phase space of null geodesics. The aim of this thesis is to explore the ambitwistor string approach to understand these structures in amplitudes, and thereby provide a new angle on quantum field theories. The first part of the thesis provides a user-friendly introduction to ambitwistor strings, as well as a condensed overview over the literature and some novel results. Emphasising the study of tree-level amplitudes, we then explore the wide-ranging impact of ambitwistor strings for an extensive family of massless theories, and discuss the duality between asymptotic symmetries and the low energy behaviour of a theory from the point of view of the worldsheet CFT. The second part of this thesis focusses on proving a conjectured ambitwistor string formula for loop amplitudes, and extending the formalism to more general theories. Remarkably, residue theorems reduce the computationally challenging ambitwistor higher-genus expressions to simple formulae on nodal Riemann spheres. This idea is developed into a widely applicable framework for loop integrands, that is shown to be applicable to both supersymmetric and non-supersymmetric theories. In the case of supergravity, this provides strong evidence for the validity of the ambitwistor string at loop level, and explicit proofs are given for non-supersymmetric theories. This leads to a proposal for an all-loop integrand for gravity and Yang-Mills.

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arXiv2016

Two-Loop Scattering Amplitudes from the Riemann Sphere

The scattering equations give striking formulae for massless scattering amplitudes at tree level and, as shown recently, at one loop. The progress at loop level was based on ambitwistor string theory, which naturally yields the scattering equations. We proposed that, for ambitwistor strings, the standard loop expansion in terms of the genus of the worldsheet is equivalent to an expansion in terms of nodes of a Riemann sphere, with the nodes carrying the loop momenta. In this paper, we show how to obtain two-loop scattering equations with the correct factorization properties. We adapt genus-two integrands from the ambitwistor string to the nodal Riemann sphere and show that these yield correct answers, by matching standard results for the four-point two-loop amplitudes of maximal supergravity and super-Yang-Mills theory. In the Yang-Mills case, this requires the loop analogue of the Parke-Taylor factor carrying the colour dependence, which includes non-planar contributions.

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arXiv2016

One-loop amplitudes on the Riemann sphere

The scattering equations provide a powerful framework for the study of scattering amplitudes in a variety of theories. Their derivation from ambitwistor string theory led to proposals for formulae at one loop on a torus for 10 dimensional supergravity, and we recently showed how these can be reduced to the Riemann sphere and checked in simple cases. We also proposed analogous formulae for other theories including maximal super-Yang-Mills theory and supergravity in other dimensions at one loop. We give further details of these results and extend them in two directions. Firstly, we propose new formulae for the one-loop integrands of Yang-Mills theory and gravity in the absence of supersymmetry. These follow from the identification of the states running in the loop as expressed in the ambitwistor-string correlator. Secondly, we give a systematic proof of the non-supersymmetric formulae using the worldsheet factorisation properties of the nodal Riemann sphere underlying the scattering equations at one loop. Our formulae have the same decomposition under the recently introduced Q-cuts as one-loop integrands and hence give the correct amplitudes.

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arXiv2015

New Ambitwistor String Theories

We describe new ambitwistor string theories that give rise to the recent amplitude formulae for Einstein-Yang-Mills, (Dirac)-Born-Infeld, Galileons and others introduced by Cachazo, He and Yuan. In the case of the Einstein-Yang-Mills amplitudes, an important role is played by a novel worldsheet conformal field theory that provides the appropriate colour factors precisely without the spurious multitrace terms of earlier models that had to be ignored by hand. This is needed to obtain the correct multitrace terms that arise when Yang-Mills is coupled to gravity.

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