English

Grassmannians for scattering amplitudes in 4d $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM and 3d ABJM

High Energy Physics - Theory 2015-06-23 v1 Algebraic Geometry

Abstract

Scattering amplitudes in 4d N=4\mathcal{N}=4 super Yang-Mills theory (SYM) can be described by Grassmannian contour integrals whose form depends on whether the external data is encoded in momentum space, twistor space, or momentum twistor space. After a pedagogical review, we present a new, streamlined proof of the equivalence of the three integral formulations. A similar strategy allows us to derive a new Grassmannian integral for 3d N=6\mathcal{N}=6 ABJM theory amplitudes in momentum twistor space: it is a contour integral in an orthogonal Grassmannian with the novel property that the internal metric depends on the external data. The result can be viewed as a central step towards developing an amplituhedron formulation for ABJM amplitudes. Various properties of Grassmannian integrals are examined, including boundary properties, pole structure, and a homological interpretation of the global residue theorems for N=4\mathcal{N}=4 SYM.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1410.0621,
  title  = {Grassmannians for scattering amplitudes in 4d $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM and 3d ABJM},
  author = {Henriette Elvang and Yu-tin Huang and Cynthia Keeler and Thomas Lam and Timothy M. Olson and Samuel B. Roland and David E. Speyer},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1410.0621},
  year   = {2015}
}

Comments

52 pages, 5 figures