$(2,2)$ Scattering and the Celestial Torus

Abstract

Analytic continuation from Minkowski space to $(2,2)$ split signature spacetime has proven to be a powerful tool for the study of scattering amplitudes. Here we show that, under this continuation, null infinity becomes the product of a null interval with a celestial torus (replacing the celestial sphere) and has only one connected component. Spacelike and timelike infinity are time-periodic quotients of AdS${}_3$. These three components of infinity combine to an $S^3$ represented as a toric fibration over the interval. Privileged scattering states of scalars organize into $SL(2,\mathbb{R}{)}_L\times SL(2,\mathbb{R}{)}_R$ conformal primary wave functions and their descendants with real integral or half-integral conformal weights, giving the normally continuous scattering problem a discrete character.

19 pages, 1 figure