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At least 793 records · Page 44

Soft bootstrap and supersymmetry

The soft bootstrap is an on-shell method to constrain the landscape of effective field theories (EFTs) of massless particles via the consistency of the low-energy S-matrix. Given assumptions on the on-shell data (particle spectra, linear symmetries, and low-energy theorems), the soft bootstrap is an efficient algorithm for determining the possible consistency of an EFT with those properties. The implementation of the soft bootstrap uses the recently discovered method of soft subtracted recursion. We derive a precise criterion for the validity of these recursion relations and show that they fail exactly when the assumed symmetries can be trivially realized by independent operators in the effective action. We use this to show that the possible pure (real and complex) scalar, fermion, and vector exceptional EFTs are highly constrained. Next, we prove how the soft behavior of states in a supermultiplet must be related and illustrate the results in extended supergravity. We demonstrate the power of the soft bootstrap in two applications. First, for the \( \mathcal{N} \) = 1 and \( \mathcal{N} \) = 2 C P 1 nonlinear sigma models, we show that on-shell constructibility establishes the emergence of accidental IR symmetries. This includes a new on-shell perspective on the interplay between \( \mathcal{N} \) = 2 supersymmetry, low-energy theorems, and electromagnetic duality. We also show that \( \mathcal{N} \) = 2 supersymmetry requires 3-point interactions with the photon that make the soft behavior of the scalar O (1) instead of vanishing, despite the underlying symmetric coset. Second, we study Galileon theories, including aspects of supersymmetrization, the possibility of a vector-scalar Galileon EFT, and the existence of higher-derivative corrections preserving the enhanced special Galileon symmetry. The latter is addressed both by soft bootstrap and by application of double-copy/KLT relations applied to higher-derivative corrections of chiral perturbation theory.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

New magnetic symmetries in (d + 2)-dimensional QED

Previous analyses of asymptotic symmetries in QED have shown that the subleading soft photon theorem implies a Ward identity corresponding to a charge generating divergent large gauge transformations on the asymptotic states at null infinity. In this work, we demonstrate that the subleading soft photon theorem is equivalent to a more general Ward identity. The charge corresponding to this Ward identity can be decomposed into an electric piece and a magnetic piece. The electric piece generates the Ward identity that was previously studied, but the magnetic piece is novel, and implies the existence of an additional asymptotic “magnetic” symmetry in QED.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Celestial operator product expansions and w 1+∞ symmetry for all spins

The operator product expansion of massless celestial primary operators of arbitrary spin is investigated. Poincaré symmetry is found to imply a set of recursion relations on the operator product expansion coefficients of the leading singular terms at tree-level in a holomorphic limit. The symmetry constraints are solved by an Euler beta function with arguments that depend simply on the right-moving conformal weights of the operators in the product. These symmetry-derived coefficients are shown not only to match precisely those arising from momentum-space tree-level collinear limits, but also to obey an infinite number of additional symmetry transformations that respect the algebra of w 1+∞ . In tree-level minimally-coupled gravitational theories, celestial currents are constructed from light transforms of conformally soft gravitons and found to generate the action of w 1+∞ on arbitrary massless celestial primaries. Results include operator product expansion coefficients for fermions as well as those arising from higher-derivative non-minimal couplings of gluons and gravitons.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Two-point sum-rules in three-dimensional Yang-Mills theory

We compute the stress-tensor two-point function in three-dimensional Yang-Mills theory to three-loops in perturbation theory. Using its calculable shape at high momenta, we test the notion that its Borel transform is saturated at low energies by the lowest glueball state(s). This assumption provides relatively stable estimates for the mass of the lightest glueball that we compare with lattice simulations. We also provide estimates for the coupling of the lightest glueball to the stress tensor. Along the way, we comment on the extent that such estimates are non-rigorous. Lastly, we discuss the possibility of applying the sum-rule analysis to two-point functions of higher-spin operators and obtain a crude approximation for the glueball couplings to these operators.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

A two-loop four-point form factor at function level

Recently, the maximally-helicity-violating four-point form factor for the chiral stress-energy tensor in planar $\mathcal{N}$ = 4 super Yang-Mills was computed to three loops at the level of the symbol associated with multiple polylogarithms. It exhibits antipodal self-duality, or invariance under the combined action of a kinematic map and reversing the ordering of letters in the symbol. Here we lift the two-loop form factor from symbol level to function level. We provide an iterated representation of the function’s derivatives (coproducts). In order to do so, we find a three-parameter limit of the five-parameter phase space where the symbol’s letters are all rational. We also use function-level information about dihedral symmetries and the soft, collinear, and factorization limits, as well as limits governed by the form-factor operator product expansion (FFOPE). We provide plots of the remainder function on several kinematic slices, and show that the result is compatible with the FFOPE data. We further verify that antipodal self-duality is valid at two loops beyond the level of the symbol.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Soft factorization in QED from 2D Kac-Moody symmetry

The soft factorization theorem for 4D abelian gauge theory states that the S -matrix factorizes into soft and hard parts, with the universal soft part containing all soft and collinear poles. Similarly, correlation functions on the sphere in a 2D CFT with a U(1) Kac-Moody current algebra factorize into current algebra and non-current algebra factors, with the current algebra factor fully determined by its pole structure. In this paper, we show that these 4D and 2D factorizations are mathematically the same phenomena. The soft ‘t Hooft-Wilson lines and soft photons are realized as a complexified 2D current algebra on the celestial sphere at null infinity. The current algebra level is determined by the cusp anomalous dimension. The associated complex U(1) boson lives on a torus whose modular parameter is τ=$\frac{2πi}{e^2}$ + $\frac{θ}{2π}$. The correlators of this 2D current algebra fully reproduce the known soft part of the 4D S -matrix, as well as a conjectured generalization involving magnetic charges.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Logarithmic forms and differential equations for Feynman integrals

We describe in detail how a d log representation of Feynman integrals leads to simple differential equations. We derive these differential equations directly in loop momentum or embedding space making use of a localization trick and generalized unitarity. For the examples we study, the alphabet of the differential equation is related to special points in kinematic space, described by certain cut equations which encode the geometry of the Feynman integral. At one loop, we reproduce the motivic formulae described by Goncharov [1] that reappeared in the context of Feynman integrals in [2–4]. The d log representation allows us to generalize the differential equations to higher loops and motivates the study of certain mixed-dimension integrals.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Dressed vs. pairwise states, and the geometric phase of monopoles and charges

We construct the Faddeev-Kulish dressed multiparticle states of electrically and magnetically charged particles, incorporating the effects of real and virtual soft photons. We calculate the properties of such dressed states under Lorentz transformations, and find that they can be identified with the pairwise multi-particle states that transform under the pairwise little group. The shifts in the dressing factors under Lorentz transformations are finite and have a simple geometric interpretation. Using the transformation properties of the dressed states we also present a novel, fully quantum field theoretic derivation of the geometric (Berry) phase obtained by an adiabatic rotation of the Dirac string, and also of the Dirac quantization condition. For half integer pairwise helicity, we show that these multiparticle states have flipped spin-statistics, reproducing the surprising fact that fermions can be made out of bosons.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Light scalars at the cosmological collider

We study the self-energies of weakly interacting scalar fields in de Sitter space with one field much lighter than the Hubble scale. We argue that self-energies drastically simplify in this light limit. We illustrate this in theories with two scalar fields, one heavy and one light, interacting with one another through either cubic or quartic interactions. To regulate infrared divergences, we compute these self-energies in Euclidean de Sitter space and then carefully analytically continue to Lorentzian signature. In particular, we do this for the most general renormalizable theory of two scalar fields with even interactions to leading order in the coupling and the mass of the light field. These self-energies are determined by de Sitter sunset diagrams, whose analytic structure and UV divergences we derive. Even at very weak couplings, the light field can substantially change how the heavy field propagates over long distances. The light field’s existence may then be inferred from how it modifies the heavy field’s oscillatory contribution to the primordial bispectrum in the squeezed limit, i.e. its cosmological collider signal.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

The three-point form factor of Tr ϕ 3 to six loops

We study the three-point form factor of the length-three half-BPS operator (Tr ϕ 3 ) in planar $\mathcal{N}$ = 4 Super-Yang-Mills theory, using analyticity and integrability methods. We find that the functions describing the form factor in perturbation theory live in the same restrictive space of multiple polylogarithms as the one describing the form factor of the stress-tensor operator (Tr ϕ 2 ). Furthermore, we find that the leading-order data in the collinear limit provided by the form factor operator product expansion (FFOPE) is enough to fix the form factor uniquely, at least through six loops. We perform various tests of our results using the subleading FFOPE corrections. We also analyze the form factor in the Regge limit where two Mandelstam invariants are large; we obtain a compact representation for the form factor in this limit which is valid to all orders in the coupling.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Tracking discontinuities in parameter space

We develop a geometric framework in Feynman-parameter space to determine constraints on the sequential discontinuities of Feynman integrals. Our method is based on tracking the deformation of the integration contour as external kinematics are analytically continued. This procedure imposes powerful constraints on the analytic structure of Feynman integrals, providing crucial inputs for their bootstrap. We demonstrate the usefulness of this framework by applying it to integrals in dimensional regularization, with higher propagator powers, and to examples with non-uniform transcendental weight. The method is illustrated with several one- and two-loop calculations.

Differential and Algebraic Geometry↗

Evaluating single-scale and/or non-planar diagrams by differential equations

We apply a recently suggested new strategy to solve differential equations for Feynman integrals. We develop this method further by analyzing asymptotic expansions of the integrals. We argue that this allows the systematic application of the differential equations to single-scale Feynman integrals. Moreover, the information about singular limits significantly simplifies finding boundary constants for the differential equations. To illustrate these points we consider two families of three-loop integrals. The first are form-factor integrals with two external legs on the light cone. We introduce one more scale by taking one more leg off-shell, $p_2^2\neq 0$. We analytically solve the differential equations for the master integrals in a Laurent expansion in dimensional regularization with $\epsilon=(4-D)/2$. Then we show how to obtain analytic results for the corresponding one-scale integrals in an algebraic way. An essential ingredient of our method is to match solutions of the differential equations in the limit of small $p_2^2$ to our results at $p_2^2\neq 0$ and to identify various terms in these solutions according to expansion by regions. The second family consists of four-point non-planar integrals with all four legs on the light cone. We evaluate, by differential equations, all the master integrals for the so-called $K_4$ graph consisting of four external vertices which are connected with each other by six lines. We show how the boundary constants can be fixed with the help of the knowledge of the singular limits. We present results in terms of harmonic polylogarithms for the corresponding seven master integrals with six propagators in a Laurent expansion in $\epsilon$ up to weight six.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

On the asymptotic states and the quantum S matrix of the η-deformed AdS 5 × S 5 superstring

We investigate the worldsheet S matrix of string theory in η-deformed AdS 5 × S 5 . By computing the six-point tree-level S matrix we explicitly show that there is no particle production at this level, as required by the classical integrability of the theory. At one and two loops we show that integrability requires that the classical two-particle states be redefined in a non-local and η-dependent way. This is a significant departure from the undeformed theory which is probably related to the quantum group symmetry of the worldsheet theory. We use generalized unitarity to carry out the loop calculations and identify a set of integrals that allow us to give a two-loop Feynman integral representation of the logarithmic terms of the two-loop S matrix. We finally also discuss aspects of the calculation of the two-loop rational terms.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Decomposition of Feynman integrals by multivariate intersection numbers

We present a detailed description of the recent idea for a direct decomposition of Feynman integrals onto a basis of master integrals by projections, as well as a direct derivation of the differential equations satisfied by the master integrals, employing multivariate intersection numbers. We discuss a recursive algorithm for the computation of multivariate intersection numbers, and provide three different approaches for a direct decomposition of Feynman integrals, which we dub the straight decomposition, the bottom-up decomposition, and the top-down decomposition. These algorithms exploit the unitarity structure of Feynman integrals by computing intersection numbers supported on cuts, in various orders, thus showing the synthesis of the intersection-theory concepts with unitarity-based methods and integrand decomposition. We perform explicit computations to exemplify all of these approaches applied to Feynman integrals, paving a way towards potential applications to generic multi-loop integrals.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

On duality of color and kinematics in (A)dS momentum space

We explore color-kinematic duality for tree-level AdS/CFT correlators in momentum space. We start by studying the bi-adjoint scalar in AdS at tree-level as an illustrative example. We follow this by investigating two forms of color-kinematic duality in Yang-Mills theory, the first for the integrated correlator in AdS 4 and the second for the integrand in general AdS d +1 . For the integrated correlator, we find color-kinematics does not yield additional relations among n -point, color-ordered correlators. To study color-kinematics for the AdS d +1 Yang-Mills integrand, we use a spectral representation of the bulk-to-bulk propagator so that AdS diagrams are similar in structure to their flat space counterparts. Finally, we study color KLT relations for the integrated correlator and double-copy relations for the AdS integrand. We find that double-copy in AdS naturally relates the bi-adjoint theory in AdS d +3 to Yang-Mills in AdS d +1 . We also find a double-copy relation at three-points between Yang-Mills in AdS d +1 and gravity in AdS d– 1 and comment on the higher-point generalization. By analytic continuation, these results on AdS/CFT correlators can be translated into statements about the wave function of the universe in de Sitter.

gauge-gravity correspondence↗

Causality, unitarity, and the weak gravity conjecture

We consider the shift of charge-to-mass ratio for extremal black holes in the context of effective field theory, motivated by the Weak Gravity Conjecture. We constrain extremality corrections in different regimes subject to unitarity and causality constraints. In the asymptotic IR, we demonstrate that for any supersymmetric theory in flat space, and for all minimally coupled theories, logarithmic running at one loop pushes the Wilson coefficient of certain four-derivative operators to be larger at lower energies, guaranteeing the existence of sufficiently large black holes with Q > M. We identify two exceptional cases of nonsupersymmetric theories involving large numbers of light states and Planck-scale nonminimal couplings, in which the sign of the running is reversed, leading to black holes with negative corrections to Q/M in the deep IR, but argue that these do not rule out extremal black holes as the requisite charged states for the WGC. We separately show that causality and unitarity imply that the leading threshold corrections to the effective action from integrating out massive states, in any weakly coupled theory, can be written as a sum of squares and is manifestly positive for black hole backgrounds. Quite beautifully, the shift in the extremal Q/M ratio is directly proportional to the shift in the on-shell action, guaranteeing that these threshold corrections push Q > M in compliance with the WGC. Our results apply for black holes with or without dilatonic coupling and charged under any number of U(1)s.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Gravitational soft theorem from emergent soft gauge symmetries

We consider and derive the gravitational soft theorem up to the sub-subleading power from the perspective of effective Lagrangians. The emergent soft gauge symmetries of the effective Lagrangian provide a transparent explanation of why soft graviton emission is universal to sub-subleading power, but gauge boson emission is not. They also suggest a physical interpretation of the form of the soft factors in terms of the charges related to the soft transformations and the kinematics of the multipole expansion. The derivation is done directly at Lagrangian level, resulting in an operatorial form of the soft theorems. In order to highlight the differences and similarities of the gauge-theory and gravitational soft theorems, we include an extensive discussion of soft gauge-boson emission from scalar, fermionic and vector matter at subleading power.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

On the equivalence between SRS and PCO formulations of superstring perturbation theory

We establish the equivalence between two formulations of superstring perturbation theory, one based on integration over the supermoduli space of super Riemann surfaces (SRS), the other based on integration over the bosonic moduli space with insertions of picture changing operators (PCO) on the worldsheet and the vertical integration prescription, by showing how the latter arises from a specific construction of the supermoduli integration contour.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗