English

Positive Geometry for Stringy Scalar Amplitudes

High Energy Physics - Theory 2026-01-06 v2

Abstract

We introduce a new positive geometry, the associahedral grid, which provides a geometric realization of the inverse string theory KLT kernel. It captures the full α\alpha'-dependence of stringified amplitudes for bi-adjoint scalar ϕ3\phi^3 theory, pions in the NLSM, and their mixed ϕ\phi/π\pi amplitudes, reducing to the corresponding field theory amplitudes in the α0\alpha'\to 0 limit. Our results demonstrate how positive geometries can be utilized beyond rational functions to capture stringy features of amplitudes, such as an infinite resonance structure. The kinematic δ\delta-shift, recently proposed to relate field theory Tr(ϕ3)\mathrm{Tr}(\phi^3) and NLSM pion amplitudes, naturally emerges as the leading contribution to the stringy geometry. We show how the connection between Tr(ϕ3)\mathrm{Tr}(\phi^3) and NLSM can be geometrized using the associahedral grid.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2508.20161,
  title  = {Positive Geometry for Stringy Scalar Amplitudes},
  author = {Christoph Bartsch and Karol Kampf and David Podivin and Jonah Stalknecht},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2508.20161},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

5+2 pages, 4 figures; v2: minor mistake in End Matter corrected, matches published version

R2 v1 2026-07-01T05:09:02.679Z