Gluon scattering on self-dual radiative gauge fields

Abstract

We present all-multiplicity formulae, derived from first principles in the MHV sector and motivated by twistor string theory for general helicities, for the tree-level S-matrix of gluon scattering on self-dual radiative backgrounds. These backgrounds are chiral, asymptotically flat gauge fields characterised by their free radiative data, and their underlying integrability is captured by twistor theory. Tree-level gluon scattering scattering amplitudes are expressed as integrals over the moduli space of holomorphic maps from the Riemann sphere to twistor space, with the degree of the map related to the helicity configuration of the external gluons. In the MHV sector, our formula is derived from the Yang-Mills action; for general helicities the formulae are obtained using a background-coupled twistor string theory and pass several consistency tests. Unlike amplitudes on a trivial vacuum, there are residual integrals due to the functional freedom in the self-dual background, but for scattering of momentum eigenstates we are able to do many of these explicitly and even more is possible in the special case of plane wave backgrounds. In general, the number of these integrals is always less than expected from standard perturbation theory, but matches the number associated with space-time MHV rules in a self-dual background field, which we develop for self-dual plane waves.

arXiv comment44 pages, no figures. v2: minor improvements in Sections 3 and 4

References in corpus (57)

• Operator expansion for high-energy scattering
• Extremely high-intensity laser interactions with fundamental quantum systems
• Perturbative Gauge Theory As A String Theory In Twistor Space
• The Color Glass Condensate
• MHV Vertices And Tree Amplitudes In Gauge Theory
• Scattering of Massless Particles in Arbitrary Dimension
• Asymptotic Symmetries of Yang-Mills Theory
• Ambitwistor strings and the scattering equations
• On the Tree-Level S-Matrix of Yang-Mills Theory
• The Complete Planar S-matrix of N=4 SYM as a Wilson Loop in Twistor Space
• An Alternative String Theory in Twistor Space for N=4 Super-Yang-Mills
• A direct proof of the CSW rules
• The self-dual sector of QCD amplitudes
• Ambitwistor strings in 4-dimensions
• Complete QED theory of multiphoton trident pair production in strong laser fields
• Scattering on plane waves and the double copy
• Trident pair production in strong laser pulses
• From Twistor Actions to MHV Diagrams
• Twistor actions for non-self-dual fields; a new foundation for twistor-string theory
• Parity Invariance For Strings In Twistor Space
• Gravity, Twistors and the MHV Formalism
• The Lagrangian origin of MHV rules
• Einstein-Yang-Mills theory : I. Asymptotic symmetries
• Perturbative gravity at null infinity
• Trident pair production in a constant crossed field
• Ambitwistor strings at null infinity and subleading soft limits
• Scattering Amplitudes and Wilson Loops in Twistor Space
• Trident pair production in plane waves: Coherence, exchange, and spacetime inhomogeneity
• From Yang-Mills Lagrangian to MHV Diagrams
• Fluctuations of the initial color fields in high energy heavy ion collisions
• Depletion of intense fields
• Perturbative gauge theory at null infinity
• Classical and quantum double copy of back-reaction
• Scattering of shock waves in QCD
• Nonlinear trident pair production in an arbitrary plane wave: a focus on the properties of the transition amplitude
• Plane wave backgrounds and colour-kinematics duality
• Heterotic twistor-string theory
• MHV diagrams in twistor space and the twistor action
• Multigluon amplitudes, $\mathcal{N}=4$ constraints and the WZW model
• MHV scattering of gluons and gravitons in chiral strong fields
• Back-reaction on background fields: a coherent state approach
• Amplitudes on plane waves from ambitwistor strings
• Holomorphic Linking, Loop Equations and Scattering Amplitudes in Twistor Space
• A quantization of twistor Yang-Mills theory through the background field method
• A Direct Proof of BCFW Recursion for Twistor-Strings
• On the Factorisation of the Connected Prescription for Yang-Mills Amplitudes
• Twistor actions for gauge theory and gravity
• Ambitwistor string vertex operators on curved backgrounds
• Global anti-self-dual Yang-Mills fields in split signature and their scattering
• Gluon helicity flip in a plane wave background
• Worldsheet factorization for twistor-strings
• Ambitwistor Strings: Worldsheet Approaches to perturbative Quantum Field Theories
• Yang-Mills theory from the worldsheet
• The analytic structure of amplitudes on backgrounds from gauge invariance and the infra-red
• Yang-Mills Theory in Twistor Space
• Complete Equivalence Between Gluon Tree Amplitudes in Twistor String Theory and in Gauge Theory
• On Closed Twistor String Theory

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Actions for Self-dual Higher Spin Gravities
• Classical double copy at null infinity
• Celestial double copy from the worldsheet
• All order gravitational waveforms from scattering amplitudes
• Large Gauge Effects and the Structure of Amplitudes