We show that accordiohedra furnish polytopes which encode amplitudes for all massive scalar field theories with generic interactions. This is done by deriving integral formulae for the Feynman diagrams at tree level and integrands at one loop level in the planar limit using the twisted intersection theory of convex realizations of the accordiohedron polytopes.
Inspired by the topological sign-flip definition of the Amplituhedron, we introduce similar, but distinct, positive geometries relevant for one-loop scattering amplitudes in planar $mathcal{N}=4$ super Yang-Mills theory. The simplest geometries are those with the maximal number of sign flips, and turn out to be associated with chiral octagons previously studied in the context of infrared (IR) finite, pure and dual conformal invariant local integrals. Our result bridges two different themes of the modern amplitudes program: positive geometry and Feynman integrals.
Recent years have seen a surprising connection between the physics of scattering amplitudes and a class of mathematical objects--the positive Grassmannian, positive loop Grassmannians, tree and loop Amplituhedra--which have been loosely referred to as positive geometries. The connection between the geometry and physics is provided by a unique differential form canonically determined by the property of having logarithmic singularities (only) on all the boundaries of the space, with residues on each boundary given by the canonical form on that boundary. In this paper we initiate an exploration of positive geometries and canonical forms as objects of study in their own right in a more general mathematical setting. We give a precise definition of positive geometries and canonical forms, introduce general methods for finding forms for more complicated positive geometries from simpler ones, and present numerous examples of positive geometries in projective spaces, Grassmannians, and toric, cluster and flag varieties. We also illustrate a number of strategies for computing canonical forms which yield interesting representations for the forms associated with wide classes of positive geometries, ranging from the simplest Amplituhedra to new expressions for the volume of arbitrary convex polytopes.
We consider theories containing scalar fields interacting with vector or with tensor degrees of freedom, equipped with symmetries that prevent the propagation of linearized scalar excitations around solutions of the equations of motion. We first study the implications of such symmetries for building vector theories that break Abelian gauge invariance without necessarily exciting longitudinal scalar fluctuations in flat space. We then examine scalar-tensor theories in curved space, and relate the symmetries we consider with a non-linear realization of broken space-time symmetries acting on scalar modes. We determine sufficient conditions on the space-time geometry to avoid the propagation of scalar fluctuations. We analyze linearized perturbations around spherically symmetric black holes, proving the absence of scalar excitations, and pointing out modifications in the dynamics of spin-2 fluctuations with respect to Einstein gravity. We then study consequences of this set-up for the dark energy problem, determining scalar constraints on cosmological configurations that can lead to self-accelerating universes whose expansion is insensitive to the value of the bare cosmological constant.
We demonstrate how one can construct renormalizable perturbative expansion in formally nonrenormalizable higher dimensional scalar theories. It is based on 1/N-expansion and results in a logarithmically divergent perturbation theory in arbitrary high odd space-time dimension. The resulting effective coupling is dimensionless and is running in accordance with the usual RG equations. The corresponding beta function is calculated in the leading order and is nonpolynomial in effective coupling. It exhibits either UV asymptotically free or IR free behaviour depending on the dimension of space-time.
Based on the studies in Type IIB string theory phenomenology, we conjecture that a good fraction of the meta-stable de Sitter vacua in the cosmic stringy landscape tend to have a very small cosmological constant $Lambda$ when compared to either the string scale $M_S$ or the Planck scale $M_P$, i.e., $Lambda ll M_S^4 ll M_P^4$. These low lying de Sitter vacua tend to be accompanied by very light scalar bosons/axions. Here we illustrate this phenomenon with the bosonic mass spectra in a set of Type IIB string theory flux compactification models. We conjecture that small $Lambda$ with light bosons is generic among de Sitter solutions in string theory; that is, the smallness of $Lambda$ and the existence of very light bosons (may be even the Higgs boson) are results of the statistical preference for such vacua in the landscape. We also discuss a scalar field $phi^3/phi^4$ model to illustrate how this statistical preference for a small $Lambda$ remains when quantum loop corrections are included, thus bypassing the radiative instability problem.