$p$-adic Mellin Amplitudes

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a $p$-adic analog of Mellin amplitudes for scalar operators, and present the computation of the general contact amplitude as well as arbitrary-point tree-level amplitudes for bulk diagrams involving up to three internal lines, and along the way obtain the $p$-adic version of the split representation formula. These amplitudes share noteworthy similarities with the usual (real) Mellin amplitudes for scalars, but are also significantly simpler, admitting closed-form expressions where none are available over the reals. The dramatic simplicity can be attributed to the absence of descendant fields in the $p$-adic formulation.

60 pages, several figures. v2: Minor typos fixed, references added