Double Copy Research Articles

Gravitational shock waves and scattering amplitudes

We study gravitational shock waves using scattering amplitude techniques. After first reviewing the derivation in General Relativity as an ultrarelativistic boost of a Schwarzschild solution, we provide an alternative derivation by exploiting a novel relation between scattering amplitudes and solutions to Einstein field equations. We prove that gravitational shock waves arise from the classical part of a three point function with two massless scalars and a graviton. The region where radiation is localized has a distributional profile and it is now recovered in a natural way, thus bypassing the introduction of singular coordinate transformations as used in General Relativity. The computation is easily generalized to arbitrary dimensions and we show how the exactness of the classical solution follows from the absence of classical contributions at higher loops. A classical double copy between gravitational and electromagnetic shock waves is also provided and for a spinning source, using the exponential form of three point amplitudes, we infer a remarkable relation between gravitational shock waves and spinning ones, also known as gyratons. Using this property, we infer a family of exact solutions describing gravitational shock waves with spin. We then compute the phase shift of a particle in a background of shock waves finding agreement with an earlier computation by Amati, Ciafaloni and Veneziano for particles in the high energy limit. Applied to a gyraton, it provides a result for the scattering angle to all orders in spin.

Relating Gauge and Gravity Theories in the Large Mass Limit.

We show how to double copy heavy quark effective theory (HQET) to heavy black hole effective theory (HBET) for spin s≤1. In particular, the double copy of spin-s HQET with scalar QCD produces spin-s HBET, while the double copy of spin-1/2 HQET with itself gives spin-1 HBET. Finally, we present novel all-order-in-mass Lagrangians for spin-1 heavy particles.

Classical double copy of nonsingular black holes

We apply the classical double copy procedure to a class of regular, non-singular black hole solutions. We give several examples, paying particular attention to a string-theory-corrected black hole solution emerging from T-duality. Non-perturbative stringy corrections introduce an ultraviolet (UV) zero-point length cutoff which results in non-singular black hole spacetimes. Apart from the UV regulator, the solution is equivalent to the Bardeen black hole spacetime. We extend this solution to include an asymptotic de Sitter background. All Yang-Mills field theory quantities associated with the double copy are well-behaved and finite for all values of parameters. We present a thorough analysis of the black hole horizon structure, additionally uncovering a simple yet new connection between horizons on the gravity side and electric fields on the gauge theory side of the double copy.

Weyl doubling

We study a host of spacetimes where the Weyl curvature may be expressed algebraically in terms of an Abelian field strength. These include Type D spacetimes in four and higher dimensions which obey a simple quadratic relation between the field strength and the Weyl tensor, following the Weyl spinor double copy relation. However, we diverge from the usual double copy paradigm by taking the gauge fields to be in the curved spacetime as opposed to an auxiliary flat space.We show how for Gibbons-Hawking spacetimes with more than two centres a generalisation of the Weyl doubling formula is needed by including a derivative-dependent expression which is linear in the Abelian field strength. We also find a type of twisted doubling formula in a case of a manifold with Spin(7) holonomy in eight dimensions.For Einstein Maxwell theories where there is an independent gauge field defined on spacetime, we investigate how the gauge fields determine the Weyl spacetime curvature via a doubling formula. We first show that this occurs for the Reissner-Nordström metric in any dimension, and that this generalises to the electrically-charged Born-Infeld solutions. Finally, we consider brane systems in supergravity, showing that a similar doubling formula applies. This Weyl formula is based on the field strength of the p-form potential that minimally couples to the brane and the brane world volume Killing vectors.

The convolutional double copy: a case study with a point

The double copy relates scattering amplitudes in gauge and gravity theories. It has also been extended to classical solutions, and a number of approaches have been developed for doing so. One of these involves expressing fields in a variety of (super-)gravity theories in terms of convolutions of gauge fields, including also BRST ghost degrees of freedom that map neatly to their corresponding counterparts in gravity. In this paper, we spell out how to use the convolutional double copy to map gauge and gravity solutions in the manifest Lorenz and de Donder gauges respectively. We then apply this to a particular example, namely the point charge in pure gauge theory. As well as clarifying how to use the convolutional approach, our results provide an alternative point of view on a recent discussion concerning whether point charges map to the Schwarzschild solution, or the more general two-parameter JNW solution, which includes a dilaton field. We confirm the latter.

Classical and quantum double copy of back-reaction

We consider radiation emitted by colour-charged and massive particles crossing strong plane wave backgrounds in gauge theory and gravity. These backgrounds are treated exactly and non-perturbatively throughout. We compute the back-reaction on these fields from the radiation emitted by the probe particles: classically through background-coupled worldline theories, and at tree-level in the quantum theory through three-point amplitudes. Consistency of these two methods is established explicitly. We show that the gauge theory and gravity amplitudes are related by the double copy for amplitudes on plane wave backgrounds. Finally, we demonstrate that in four-dimensions these calculations can be carried out with a background-dressed version of the massive spinor-helicity formalism.

On Sugawara construction on celestial sphere

Conformally soft gluons are conserved currents of the Celestial Conformal Field Theory (CCFT) and generate a Kac-Moody algebra. We study celestial amplitudes of Yang-Mills theory, which are Mellin transforms of gluon amplitudes and take the double soft limit of a pair of gluons. In this manner we construct the Sugawara energy-momentum tensor of the CCFT. We verify that conformally soft gauge bosons are Virasoro primaries of the CCFT under the Sugawara energy-momentum tensor. The Sugawara tensor though does not generate the correct conformal transformations for hard states. In Einstein-Yang- Mills theory, we consider an alternative construction of the energy-momentum tensor, similar to the double copy construction which relates gauge theory amplitudes with gravity ones. This energy momentum tensor has the correct properties to generate conformal transformations for both soft and hard states. We extend this construction to supertranslations.

Double copy of electric-magnetic duality

We argue that the complex transformation relating the Schwarzschild to the Taub-NUT metric, introduced by Talbot, is in fact an electric-magnetic duality transformation. We show that at null infinity, the complex transformation is equivalent to a complexified BMS supertranslation, which rotates the supertranslation and the dual (magnetic) supertranslation charges. This can also be seen from the cubic coupling between the classical source and its background, which for Taub-NUT is given by a complex phase rotation acting on gravitational minimal couplings. The same phase rotation generates dyons from electrons at the level of minimally coupled amplitudes, manifesting the double copy relation between the two solutions.

From Navier-Stokes to Maxwell via Einstein

We revisit the cutoff surface formulation of fluid-gravity duality in the context of the classical double copy. The spacetimes in this fluid-gravity duality are algebraically special, with Petrov type II when the spacetime is four dimensional. We find two special classes of fluids whose dual spacetimes exhibit higher algebraic speciality: constant vorticity flows have type D gravity duals, while potential flows map to type N spacetimes. Using the Weyl version of the classical double copy, we construct associated single-copy gauge fields for both cases, finding that constant vorticity fluids map to a solenoid gauge field. Additionally we find the scalar in a potential flow fluid maps to the zeroth copy scalar.

More on the classical double copy in three spacetime dimensions

It is well-known that General Relativity (GR) in three spacetime dimensions (3D) has no well-defined Newtonian limit. Recently, a static solution mimicking the behaviour of the expected Newtonian potential has been found in arXiv:1904.11001 by studying the classical double copy of a point charge in gauge theory. This is the first example where the vacuum solution in the gauge theory leads to a non-vacuum solution on the gravity side. The resulting energy-momentum tensor was attributed to a free scalar ghost field; however, alternatively, the source can be seen as one resulting from a spacelike perfect fluid. In this paper, we first give an alternative derivation of the solution where there is no need to perform a generalized gauge transformation to obtain a quadratic Lagrangian without propagating ghost fields. Then, we present a stationary version of the solution and show that the scalar field interpretation of the source does not survive in this case, leaving the spacelike fluid as the only possibility. We give the gauge theory single copy of our solution and comment on the implications of our results on the validity of the classical double copy in 3D. The effect of the cosmological constant is also discussed.

Topology and Wilson lines: global aspects of the double copy

The Kerr-Schild double copy relates exact solutions of gauge and gravity theories. In all previous examples, the gravity solution is associated with an abelian-like gauge theory object, which linearises the Yang-Mills equations. This appears to be at odds with the double copy for scattering amplitudes, in which the non-abelian nature of the gauge theory plays a crucial role. Furthermore, it is not yet clear whether or not global properties of classical fields — such as non-trivial topology — can be matched between gauge and gravity theories. In this paper, we clarify these issues by explicitly demonstrating how magnetic monopoles associated with arbitrary gauge groups can be double copied to the same solution (the pure NUT metric) in gravity. We further describe how to match up topological information on both sides of the double copy correspondence, independently of the nature of the gauge group. This information is neatly expressed in terms of Wilson line operators, and we argue through specific examples that they provide a useful bridge between the classical double copy and the BCJ double copy for scattering amplitudes.

Generalised Schwarzschild metric from double copy of point-like charge solution in Born-Infeld theory

We discuss possible application of the classical double copy procedure to construction of a generalisation of the Schwarzschild metric starting from an α′-corrected open string analogue of the Coulomb solution. The latter is approximated by a point-like charge solution of the Born-Infeld action, which represents the open string effective action for an abelian vector field in the limit when derivatives of the field strength are small. The Born-Infeld solution has a regular electric field which is constant near the origin suggesting that corrections from the derivative terms in the open string effective action may be small there. The generalization of the Schwarschild metric obtained by the double copy construction from the Born-Infeld solution looks non-singular but the corresponding curvature invariants still blow up at r=0. We discuss the origin of this singularity and comment on possible generalizations.

Asymptotic freedom from the two-loop term of the β function in a cubic theory

We renormalize a six dimensional cubic theory to four loops in the MSbar scheme where the scalar is in a bi-adjoint representation. The underlying model was originally derived in a problem relating to gravity being a double copy of Yang-Mills theory. As a field theory in its own right we find that it has a curious property in that while unexpectedly there is no one loop contribution to the $\beta$-function the two loop coefficient is negative. It therefore represents an example where asymptotic freedom is determined by the two loop term of the $\beta$-function. We also examine a multi-adjoint cubic theory in order to see whether this is a more universal property of these models.

Double copy structure and the flat space limit of conformal correlators in even dimensions

We analyse the flat space limit of 3-point correlators in momentum space for general conformal field theories in even spacetime dimensions, and show they exhibit a double copy structure similar to that found in odd dimensions. In even dimensions, the situation is more complicated because correlators contain branch cuts and divergences which need to be renormalised. We describe the analytic continuation of momenta required to extract the flat space limit, and show that the flat space limit is encoded in the leading singularity of a 1-loop triangle integral which serves as a master integral for 3-point correlators in even dimensions. We then give a detailed analysis of the renormalised correlators in four dimensions where the flat space limit of stress tensor correlators are controlled by the coefficients in the trace anomaly.

A semi-infinite matrix analysis of the BFKL equation

The forward BFKL equation is discretised in virtuality space and it is shown that the diffusion into infrared and ultraviolet momenta can be understood in terms of a semi-infinite matrix. The square truncation of this matrix can be exponentiated leading to asymptotic eigenstates sharing many features with the BFKL gluon Green’s function in the limit of large matrix size. This truncation is closely related to a representation of the XXX Heisenberg spin = - frac{1}{2} chain with SL(2) invariance where the Hamiltonian acts on a symmetric double copy of the harmonic oscillator. A simple modification of the BFKL matrix suppressing the infrared modes generates evolution more compatible with the Froissart bound.

Entanglement and the double copy

We construct entangled states of gluons that scatter exactly as if they were gravitons. Operationally, these objects implement the double copy at the level of the wave function. Our analysis begins with a general ansatz for a wave function characterizing gluons in two copies of SU(N ) gauge theory. Given relatively minimal assumptions following from permutation invariance and dimensional analysis, the three- and four-particle wave functions generate scattering amplitudes that automatically coincide exactly with gravity, modulo normalization. For five-particle scattering the match is not automatic but imposing certain known selection rules on the amplitude is sufficient to uniquely reproduce gravity. The resulting amplitudes exhibit a color-dressed and permutation-invariant form of the usual double copy relations. We compute the entanglement entropy between the two gauge theory copies and learn that these states are maximally-entangled at large N . Moreover, this approach extends immediately to effective field theories, where Born-Infeld photons and Galileons can be similarly recast as entangled gluons and pions.

Monopoles, shockwaves and the classical double copy

The classical double copy relates exact solutions in biadjoint scalar, gauge and gravity theories. Recently, nonperturbative solutions have been found in biadjoint theory, which have been speculated to be related to the Wu-Yang monopole in gauge theory. We show that this seems not to be the case, by considering monopole solutions in the infinitely boosted (shockwave) limit. Furthermore, we show that the Wu-Yang monopole is instead related to the Taub-NUT solution, whose previously noted single copy is that of an abelian- like (Dirac) monopole. Our results demonstrate how abelian and non-abelian gauge theory objects can be associated with the same gravity object, and clarify a number of open questions concerning the scope of the classical double copy.

Double copy of massive scalar QCD

We construct the gravitational theory emerging from the double-copy of massive scalar quantum chromodynamics in general dimensions. The resulting two-form-dilaton-gravity theory couples to flavored massive scalars gravitationally and via the dilaton. It displays scalar self-interaction terms of arbitrary even order in the fields but quadratic in derivatives. We work out the emerging Lagrangian explicitly up to the sixth order in scalar fields and propose an all order form.

S-duality and the double copy

The double copy formalism provides an intriguing connection between gauge theories and gravity. It was first demonstrated in the perturbative context of scattering amplitudes but recently the formalism has been applied to exact classical solutions in gauge theories such as the monopole and instanton. In this paper we will investigate how duality symmetries in the gauge theory double copy to gravity and relate these to solution generating transformations and the action of SL(2, ℝ) in general relativity.

Classical double copy from color kinematics duality: A proof in the soft limit

Classical double copy is an intriguing relationship between classical solutions to a gravity theory and solutions to classical Yang-Mills equations. Although formally inspired by the double copy relation between (quantum) scattering amplitudes in QCD and perturbative gravity, a direct proof of the former from the latter continues to be under investigation. In this paper, we attempt to prove classical double copy from the color-kinematics duality symmetry of QCD amplitudes in a restricted setting. That is we consider radiative solutions with classical scattering sources in Yang-Mills theory and perturbative gravity in D > 4 spacetime dimensions. We show that when the frequency of radiation is much smaller than the characteristic frequency of the process, then at the subleading order in frequency, the classical double copy relating radiative gluon field to radiative gravitational field can be proved from the color-kinematics duality of QCD amplitudes.