multi-Regge Limit Research Articles

Pentagon Wilson loop with Lagrangian insertion at two loops in mathcal{N} = 4 super Yang-Mills theory

We compute the two-loop result for the null pentagonal Wilson loop with a Lagrangian insertion (normalized by the Wilson loop without insertion) in planar, maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. This finite observable is closely related to the Amplituhedron, and it is reminiscent of finite parts of planar two-loop five-particle scattering amplitudes. We verify that, up to this loop order, the leading singularities are given by the same conformally invariant expressions that appear in all-plus pure Yang-Mills amplitudes. The accompanying weight-four transcendental functions are expressed in terms of the pentagon functions space known from planar two-loop five-particle amplitudes, but interestingly only a subset of the functions appears. Being a function of four dimensionless variables, the observable has interesting asymptotic limits. We verify that our analytic result is consistent with soft and collinear limits, and find an intriguingly simple pattern in the multi-Regge limit. Thanks to the new result we can also conjecturally predict, for general kinematics, the maximal weight piece of the planar three-loop five-particle all-plus amplitude in pure Yang-Mills theory. Motivated by the Amplituhedron geometry, we investigate positivity properties of the integrated answer. Generalizing previous results at four particles, we find numerical evidence that the two-loop five-particle result has uniform sign in a kinematic region suggested by the loop Amplituhedron.

Exploring Reggeon bound states in strongly-coupled mathcal{N} = 4 super Yang-Mills

The multi-Regge limit of scattering amplitudes in strongly-coupled mathcal{N} = 4 super Yang-Mills is described by the large mass limit of a set of thermodynamic Bethe ansatz (TBA) equations. A non-trivial remainder function arises in this setup in certain kinematical regions due to excitations of the TBA equations which appear during the analytic continuation into these kinematical regions. So far, these analytic continuations were carried out on a case-by-case basis for the six- and seven-gluon remainder function. In this note, we show that the set of possible excitations appearing in any analytic continuation in the multi-Regge limit for any number of particles is rather constrained. In particular, we show that the BFKL eigenvalue of any possible Reggeon bound state is a multiple of the two-Reggeon BFKL eigenvalue appearing in the six-gluon case.

Heptagon functions and seven-gluon amplitudes in multi-Regge kinematics

We compute all 2 → 5 gluon scattering amplitudes in planar mathcal{N} = 4 super-Yang-Mills theory in the multi-Regge limit that is sensitive to the non-trivial (“long”) Regge cut. We provide the amplitudes through four loops and to all logarithmic accuracy at leading power, in terms of single-valued multiple polylogarithms of two variables. To obtain these results, we leverage the function-level results for the amplitudes in the Steinmann cluster bootstrap. To high powers in the series expansion in the two variables, our results agree with the recently conjectured all-order central emission vertex used in the Fourier-Mellin representation of amplitudes in multi-Regge kinematics. Our results therefore provide a resummation of the Fourier-Mellin residues into single-valued polylogarithms, and constitute an important cross-check between the bootstrap approach and the all-orders multi-Regge proposal.

Multi-Regge limit of the two-loop five-point amplitudes in mathcal{N} = 4 super Yang-Mills and mathcal{N} = 8 supergravity

In previous work, the two-loop five-point amplitudes in mathcal{N} = 4 super Yang-Mills theory and mathcal{N} = 8 supergravity were computed at symbol level. In this paper, we compute the full functional form. The amplitudes are assembled and simplified using the analytic expressions of the two-loop pentagon integrals in the physical scattering region. We provide the explicit functional expressions, and a numerical reference point in the scattering region. We then calculate the multi-Regge limit of both amplitudes. The result is written in terms of an explicit transcendental function basis. For certain non-planar colour structures of the mathcal{N} = 4 super Yang-Mills amplitude, we perform an independent calculation based on the BFKL effective theory. We find perfect agreement. We comment on the analytic properties of the amplitudes.

The multi-Regge limit from the Wilson loop OPE

The finite remainder function for planar, color-ordered, maximally helicity violating scattering processes in mathcal{N} = 4 super Yang-Mills theory possesses a non-vanishing multi-Regge limit that depends on the choice of a Mandelstam region. We analyze the combined multi-Regge collinear limit in all Mandelstam regions through an analytic continuation of the Wilson loop OPE. At leading order, the former is determined by the gluon excitation of the Gubser-Klebanov-Polyakov string. We illustrate the general procedure at the example of the heptagon remainder function at two loops. In this case, the continuation of the leading order terms in the Wilson loop OPE suffices to determine the two-loop multi-Regge heptagon functions in all Mandelstam regions from their symbols. The expressions we obtain are fully consistent with recent results by Del Duca et al.

All-Order Amplitudes at any Multiplicity in the Multi-Regge Limit.

We propose an all-loop expression for scattering amplitudes in planar N=4 super Yang-Mills theory in multi-Regge kinematics valid for all multiplicities, all helicity configurations, and arbitrary logarithmic accuracy. Our expression is arrived at from comparing explicit perturbative results with general expectations from the integrable structure of a closely related collinear limit. A crucial ingredient of the analysis is an all-order extension for the central emission vertex that we recently computed at next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy. As an application, we use our all-order formula to prove that all amplitudes in this theory in multi-Regge kinematics are single-valued multiple polylogarithms of uniform transcendental weight.

The multi-Regge limit of the eight-particle amplitude beyond leading logarithmic accuracy

We present the computation of the eight-particle three-loop amplitude beyond leading logarithmic accuracy in the multi-Regge limit of planar mathcal{N} = 4 Super Yang-Mills theory. Starting from the all-loop dispersion integral form of the amplitude, we consider the eight-particle case and by analyzing said dispersion integral we associate it to a well-defined Fourier-Mellin transform. By using the properties of the Fourier-Mellin representation and its convolution product structure, we compute the three-loop eight-particle MHV amplitude at next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy. From this MHV result, we obtain the three-loop eight particle amplitude in multi-Regge kinematics for all helicity configurations, including next-to-next-to-MHV. Finally, we find that the result is described by combinations of single-valued multiple polylogarithms of uniform weight, the leading singularity structure of which corresponds to the classification shown at leading logarithmic accuracy.

Analytic Result for a Two-Loop Five-Particle Amplitude.

We compute the symbol of the full-color two-loop five-particle amplitude in N=4 super Yang-Mills theory, including all nonplanar subleading-color terms. The amplitude is written in terms of permutations of Parke-Taylor tree-level amplitudes and pure functions to all orders in the dimensional regularization parameter, in agreement with previous conjectures. The answer has the correct collinear limits and infrared factorization properties, allowing us to define a finite remainder function. We study the multi-Regge limit of the nonplanar terms, analyze its subleading power corrections, and analytically present the leading logarithmic terms.

The two-loop five-particle amplitude in mathcal{N} = 8 supergravity

We compute for the first time the two-loop five-particle amplitude in mathcal{N} = 8 supergravity. Starting from the known integrand, we perform an integration-by-parts reduction and express the answer in terms of uniform weight master integrals. The latter are known to evaluate to non-planar pentagon functions, described by a 31-letter symbol alphabet. We express the final result for the amplitude in terms of uniform weight four symbols, multiplied by a small set of rational factors. We observe that one of the symbol letters is absent from the amplitude. The latter satisfies the expected factorization properties when one external graviton becomes soft, and when two external gravitons become collinear. We verify that the soft divergences of the amplitude exponentiate. We extract the finite remainder function, which depends on fewer rational factors. By analyzing identities involving rational factors and symbols we find a remarkably compact representation in terms of a single seed function, summed over all permutations of external particles. Finally, we work out the multi-Regge limit, and present explicitly the leading logarithmic terms in the limit. The full symbol of the IR-subtracted hard function is provided as a supplementary file.

Cluster adjacency and the four-loop NMHV heptagon

We exploit the recently described property of cluster adjacency for scattering amplitudes in planar mathcal{N}=4 super Yang-Mills theory to construct the symbol of the four-loop NMHV heptagon amplitude. We use a manifestly cluster adjacent ansatz and describe how the parameters of this ansatz are determined using simple physical consistency requirements. We then specialise our answer for the amplitude to the multi-Regge limit, finding agreement with previously available results up to the next-to-leading logarithm, and obtaining new predictions up to (next-to)3-leading-logarithmic accuracy.

No particle production in two dimensions: recursion relations and multi-Regge limit

We introduce high-energy limits which allow us to derive recursion relations fixing the various couplings of Lagrangians of two-dimensional relativistic quantum field theories with no tree-level particle production in a very straightforward way. The sine-Gordon model, the Bullough-Dodd theory, Toda theories of various kinds and the U(N) non-linear sigma model can all be rediscovered in this way. The results here were the outcome of our explorations at the 2017 Perimeter Institute Winter School.

Multi-Regge kinematics and the scattering equations

We study the solutions to the scattering equations in various quasi-multi-Regge regimes where the produced particles are ordered in rapidity. We observe that in all cases the solutions to the scattering equations admit the same hierarchy as the rapidity ordering, and we conjecture that this behaviour holds independently of the number of external particles. In multi-Regge limit, where the produced particles are strongly ordered in rapidity, we determine exactly all solutions to the scattering equations that contribute to the Cachazo-He-Yuan (CHY) formula for gluon scattering in this limit. When the CHY formula is localised on these solutions, it reproduces the expected factorisation of tree-level amplitudes in terms of impact factors and Lipatov vertices. We also investigate amplitudes in various quasi-MRK. While in these cases we cannot determine the solutions to the scattering equations exactly, we show that again our conjecture combined with the CHY formula implies the factorisation of the amplitude into universal buildings blocks for which we obtain a CHY-type representation.

The seven-gluon amplitude in multi-Regge kinematics beyond leading logarithmic accuracy

We present an all-loop dispersion integral, well-defined to arbitrary logarithmic accuracy, describing the multi-Regge limit of the 2 → 5 amplitude in planar mathcal{N}=4 super Yang-Mills theory. It follows from factorization, dual conformal symmetry and consistency with soft limits, and specifically holds in the region where the energies of all produced particles have been analytically continued. After promoting the known symbol of the 2-loop N -particle MHV amplitude in this region to a function, we specialize to N = 7, and extract from it the next-to-leading order (NLO) correction to the BFKL central emission vertex, namely the building block of the dispersion integral that had not yet appeared in the well-studied six-gluon case. As an application of our results, we explicitly compute the seven-gluon amplitude at next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy through 5 loops for the MHV case, and through 3 and 4 loops for the two independent NMHV helicity configurations, respectively.

On the one-loop calculations with Reggeized quarks

The technique of one-loop calculations for the processes involving Reggeized quarks is described in the framework of gauge invariant effective field theory for the Multi-Regge limit of QCD, which has been introduced by Lipatov and Vyazovsky. The rapidity divergences, associated with the terms enhanced by log(s), appear in the loop corrections in this formalism. The covariant procedure of regularization of rapidity divergences, preserving the gauge invariance of effective action is described. As an example application, the one-loop correction to the propagator of Reggeized quark and [Formula: see text]-scattering vertex are computed. Obtained results are used to construct the Regge limit of one-loop [Formula: see text] amplitude. The cancellation of rapidity divergences and consistency of the EFT prediction with the full QCD result is demonstrated. The rapidity renormalization group within the EFT is discussed.

Systematics of the multi-Regge three-loop symbol

We review the systematics of Mandelstam cut contributions to planar scattering amplitudes in the multi-Regge limit. Isolating the relevant cut terms, we explain how the BFKL expansion can be used to construct the perturbative n-point multi-Regge limit amplitude in certain kinematic regions from a finite number of basic building blocks. At three loops and at leading logarithmic order, two building blocks are required. Their symbols are extracted from the known three-loop six-point and seven-point symbols for general kinematics. The new seven-point building block is constructed in terms of single-valued multiple polylogarithms to the extent it can be determined using the symbol as well as further symmetry and consistency constraints. Beyond the leading logarithmic order, the subleading and sub-subleading terms require two and one further building block, respectively. The latter could either be reconstructed from further perturbative data, or from BFKL integrals involving yet-unknown corrections to the central emission block.

Regge meets collinear in strongly-coupled mathcal{N}=4 super Yang-Mills

We revisit the calculation of the six-gluon remainder function in planar mathcal{N}=4 super Yang-Mills theory from the strong coupling TBA in the multi-Regge limit and identify an infinite set of kinematically subleading terms. These new terms can be compared to the strong coupling limit of the finite-coupling expressions for the impact factor and the BFKL eigenvalue proposed by Basso et al. in [1], which were obtained from an analytic continuation of the Wilson loop OPE. After comparing the results order by order in those subleading terms, we show that it is possible to precisely map both formalisms onto each other. A similar calculation can be carried out for the seven-gluon amplitude, the result of which shows that the central emission vertex does not become trivial at strong coupling.

All orders results for self-crossing Wilson loops mimicking double parton scattering

Loop-level scattering amplitudes for massless particles have singularities in regions where tree amplitudes are perfectly smooth. For example, a 2 → 4 gluon scattering process has a singularity in which each incoming gluon splits into a pair of gluons, followed by a pair of 2 → 2 collisions between the gluon pairs. This singularity mimics double parton scattering because it occurs when the transverse momentum of a pair of outgoing gluons vanishes. The singularity is logarithmic at fixed order in perturbation theory. We exploit the duality between scattering amplitudes and polygonal Wilson loops to study six-point amplitudes in this limit to high loop order in planar $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 4 super-Yang-Mills theory. The singular configuration corresponds to the limit in which a hexagonal Wilson loop develops a self-crossing. The singular terms are governed by an evolution equation, in which the hexagon mixes into a pair of boxes; the mixing back is suppressed in the planar (large N c) limit. Because the kinematic dependence of the box Wilson loops is dictated by (dual) conformal invariance, the complete kinematic dependence of the singular terms for the self-crossing hexagon on the one nonsingular variable is determined to all loop orders. The complete logarithmic dependence on the singular variable can be obtained through nine loops, up to a couple of constants, using a correspondence with the multi-Regge limit. As a byproduct, we obtain a simple formula for the leading logs to all loop orders. We also show that, although the MHV six-gluon amplitude is singular, remarkably, the transcendental functions entering the non-MHV amplitude are finite in the same limit, at least through four loops.

The high-energy radiation pattern from BFKLex with double-log collinear contributions

We study high-energy jet production in the multi-Regge limit making use of the Monte Carlo event generator BFKLex which includes collinear improvements in the form of double-log contributions as presented in [1]. Making use of the anti-kt jet algorithm in the FastJet implementation, we present results for the average transverse momentum and azimuthal angle of the produced jets when two tagged forward/backward jets are present in the final state. We also introduce a new observable which accounts for the average rapidity separation among subsequent emissions. Results are presented, for comparison, at leading order and next-to-leading order, with the resummation of collinear double logs proposed in [2].

The four-loop six-gluon NMHV ratio function

We use the hexagon function bootstrap to compute the ratio function which characterizes the next-to-maximally-helicity-violating (NMHV) six-point amplitude in planar N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory at four loops. A powerful constraint comes from dual superconformal invariance, in the form of a Q differential equation, which heavily constrains the first derivatives of the transcendental functions entering the ratio function. At four loops, it leaves only a 34-parameter space of functions. Constraints from the collinear limits, and from the multi-Regge limit at the leading-logarithmic (LL) and next-to-leading-logarithmic (NLL) order, suffice to fix these parameters and obtain a unique result. We test the result against multi-Regge predictions at NNLL and N^3LL, and against predictions from the operator product expansion involving one and two flux-tube excitations; all cross-checks are satisfied. We study the analytical and numerical behavior of the parity-even and parity-odd parts on various lines and surfaces traversing the three-dimensional space of cross ratios. As part of this program, we characterize all irreducible hexagon functions through weight eight in terms of their coproduct. We also provide representations of the ratio function in particular kinematic regions in terms of multiple polylogarithms.

Wilson loop OPE, analytic continuation and multi-Regge limit

We explore a direct connection between the collinear limit and the multi-Regge limit for scattering amplitudes in the $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 4 super Yang-Mills theory. Starting with the collinear expansion for the six-gluon amplitude in the Euclidean kinematic region, we perform an analytic continuation term by term to the so-called Mandelstam region. We find that the result coincides with the collinear expansion of the analytically continued amplitude. We then take the multi-Regge limit, and conjecture that the final result precisely reproduces the one from the BFKL approach. Combining this procedure with the OPE for null polygonal Wilson loops, we explicitly compute the leading contribution in the “collinear-Regge” limit up to five loops. Our results agree with all the known results up to four loops. At five-loop, our results up to the next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic approximation (NNLLA) also reproduce the known results, and for the N3LLA and the N4LLA give non-trivial predictions. We further present an all-loop prediction for the imaginary part of the next-to-double-leading logarithmic approximation. Our procedure has a possibility of an interpolation from weak to strong coupling in the multi-Regge limit with the help of the OPE.