Skip to main content
Log in

A note on amplitudes in \( \mathcal{N} = {6} \) superconformal Chern-Simons theory

  • Published:
Journal of High Energy Physics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We establish a connection between tree-level superamplitudes in ABJM theory and leading singularities associated to special three-particle cuts of one-loop superamplitudes where one of the tree amplitudes entering the cut is a four-point amplitude. Using these relations, we show that certain intriguing similarities between one-loop and treelevel superamplitudes observed recently become completely manifest. This connection is reminiscent of a similar relation in the maximally supersymmetric gauge theory in four dimensions, where the sum of two-mass hard and one-mass box coefficients of a one-loop amplitude equals the corresponding tree-level amplitude. As an application, we present a very simple re-derivation of the six-point superamplitude and calculate the eight-point superamplitude at one loop in ABJM theory.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. J.H. Schwarz, Superconformal Chern-Simons theories, JHEP 11 (2004) 078 [hep-th/0411077] [INSPIRE].

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. J. Bagger and N. Lambert, Gauge symmetry and supersymmetry of multiple M2-branes, Phys. Rev. D 77 (2008) 065008 [arXiv:0711.0955] [INSPIRE].

    MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. A. Gustavsson, Algebraic structures on parallel M2-branes, Nucl. Phys. B 811 (2009) 66 [arXiv:0709.1260] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. O. Aharony, O. Bergman, D.L. Jafferis and J. Maldacena, N = 6 superconformal Chern-Simons-matter theories, M2-branes and their gravity duals, JHEP 10 (2008) 091 [arXiv:0806.1218] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. G. Arutyunov and S. Frolov, Superstrings on AdS 4 × CP 3 as a Coset σ-model, JHEP 09 (2008) 129 [arXiv:0806.4940] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. B. Stefanski Jr., Green-Schwarz action for Type IIA strings on AdS 4 × CP 3, Nucl. Phys. B 808 (2009) 80 [arXiv:0806.4948] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. D. Sorokin and L. Wulff, Evidence for the classical integrability of the complete AdS 4 × CP 3 superstring, JHEP 11 (2010) 143 [arXiv:1009.3498] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. J. Minahan and K. Zarembo, The Bethe ansatz for superconformal Chern-Simons, JHEP 09 (2008) 040 [arXiv:0806.3951] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. J. Minahan, W. Schulgin and K. Zarembo, Two loop integrability for Chern-Simons theories with N = 6 supersymmetry, JHEP 03 (2009) 057 [arXiv:0901.1142] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. N. Gromov and P. Vieira, The all loop AdS 4 /CF T 3 Bethe ansatz, JHEP 01 (2009) 016 [arXiv:0807.0777] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. N. Gromov and P. Vieira, The AdS 4 /CF T 3 algebraic curve, JHEP 02 (2009) 040 [arXiv:0807.0437] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  12. C. Ahn and R.I. Nepomechie, N = 6 super Chern-Simons theory S-matrix and all-loop Bethe ansatz equations, JHEP 09 (2008) 010 [arXiv:0807.1924] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  13. T. McLoughlin and R. Roiban, Spinning strings at one-loop in AdS 4 × P 3, JHEP 12 (2008) 101 [arXiv:0807.3965] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  14. L.F. Alday, G. Arutyunov and D. Bykov, Semiclassical quantization of spinning strings in AdS 4 × CP 3, JHEP 11 (2008) 089 [arXiv:0807.4400] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  15. C. Krishnan, AdS 4 /CF T 3 at one loop, JHEP 09 (2008) 092 [arXiv:0807.4561] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  16. T. McLoughlin, R. Roiban and A.A. Tseytlin, Quantum spinning strings in AdS 4 × CP 3 : testing the Bethe Ansatz proposal, JHEP 11 (2008) 069 [arXiv:0809.4038] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  17. D. Gaiotto, S. Giombi and X. Yin, Spin chains in N = 6 superconformal Chern-Simons-Matter theory, JHEP 04 (2009) 066 [arXiv:0806.4589] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  18. T. Nishioka and T. Takayanagi, On type IIA Penrose limit and N = 6 Chern-Simons theories, JHEP 08 (2008) 001 [arXiv:0806.3391] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  19. A. Agarwal, N. Beisert and T. McLoughlin, Scattering in mass-deformed N ≥ 4 Chern-Simons models, JHEP 06 (2009) 045 [arXiv:0812.3367] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  20. T. Bargheer, F. Loebbert and C. Meneghelli, Symmetries of Tree-level Scattering Amplitudes in N = 6 Superconformal Chern-Simons Theory, Phys. Rev. D 82 (2010) 045016 [arXiv:1003.6120] [INSPIRE].

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  21. Y.-t. Huang and A.E. Lipstein, Dual superconformal symmetry of N = 6 Chern-Simons theory, JHEP 11 (2010) 076 [arXiv:1008.0041] [INSPIRE].

    Google Scholar 

  22. D. Gang, Y.-t. Huang, E. Koh, S. Lee and A.E. Lipstein, Tree-level recursion relation and dual superconformal symmetry of the ABJM theory, JHEP 03 (2011) 116 [arXiv:1012.5032] [INSPIRE].

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  23. W.-M. Chen and Y.-t. Huang, Dualities for loop amplitudes of N = 6 Chern-Simons Matter theory, JHEP 11 (2011) 057 [arXiv:1107.2710] [INSPIRE].

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  24. Y.-t. Huang, From Orthogonal Grassmanian to Three-algebra, seminar given at the workshop Recent Advances in Scattering Amplitudes, Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Cambridge U.K., 4 April 2012, http://www.newton.ac.uk/programmes/BSM/seminars/040409001.html.

  25. T. Bargheer, N. Beisert, F. Loebbert and T. McLoughlin, Conformal Anomaly for Amplitudes in N = 6 Superconformal Chern-Simons Theory, arXiv:1204.4406 [INSPIRE].

  26. M.S. Bianchi, M. Leoni, A. Mauri, S. Penati and A. Santambrogio, One Loop Amplitudes In ABJM, JHEP 07 (2012) 029 [arXiv:1204.4407] [INSPIRE].

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  27. M.S. Bianchi, M. Leoni, A. Mauri, S. Penati and A. Santambrogio, Scattering amplitudes/Wilson loop duality in ABJM theory, JHEP 01 (2012) 056 [arXiv:1107.3139] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  28. M.S. Bianchi, M. Leoni and S. Penati, An all order identity between ABJM and N = 4 SYM four-point amplitudes, JHEP 04 (2012) 045 [arXiv:1112.3649] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  29. L.F. Alday and J.M. Maldacena, Gluon scattering amplitudes at strong coupling, JHEP 06 (2007) 064 [arXiv:0705.0303] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  30. G. Korchemsky, J. Drummond and E. Sokatchev, Conformal properties of four-gluon planar amplitudes and Wilson loops, Nucl. Phys. B 795 (2008) 385 [arXiv:0707.0243] [INSPIRE].

    MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  31. A. Brandhuber, P. Heslop and G. Travaglini, MHV amplitudes in N = 4 super Yang-Mills and Wilson loops, Nucl. Phys. B 794 (2008) 231 [arXiv:0707.1153] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  32. J.M. Henn, J. Plefka and K. Wiegandt, Light-like polygonal Wilson loops in 3d Chern-Simons and ABJM theory, JHEP 08 (2010) 032 [Erratum ibid. 1111 (2011) 053] [arXiv:1004.0226] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  33. M.S. Bianchi et al., From correlators to Wilson loops in Chern-Simons Matter theories, JHEP 06 (2011) 118 [arXiv:1103.3675] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  34. K. Wiegandt, Equivalence of Wilson loops in \( \mathcal{N} = {6} \) super Chern-Simons matter theory and \( \mathcal{N} = {4} \) SYM theory, Phys. Rev. D 84(2011) 126015 [arXiv:1110.1373][INSPIRE].

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  35. P.A. Grassi, D. Sorokin and L. Wulff, Simplifying superstring and D-brane actions in AdS 4 × CP 3 superbackground, JHEP 08 (2009) 060 [arXiv:0903.5407] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  36. I. Adam, A. Dekel and Y. Oz, On integrable backgrounds self-dual under fermionic T-duality, JHEP 04 (2009) 120 [arXiv:0902.3805] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  37. I. Adam, A. Dekel and Y. Oz, On the fermionic T-duality of the AdS 4 × CP 3 σ-model, JHEP 10 (2010) 110 [arXiv:1008.0649] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  38. I. Adam, A. Dekel and Y. Oz, On the fermionic T-duality of the AdS 4 × CP 3 σ-model, JHEP 10 (2010) 110 [arXiv:1008.0649] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  39. A. Dekel and Y. Oz, Self-duality of Green-Schwarz σ-models, JHEP 03 (2011) 117 [arXiv:1101.0400] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  40. I. Bakhmatov, On AdS 4 × CP 3T-duality, Nucl. Phys. B 847 (2011) 38 [arXiv:1011.0985] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  41. I. Bakhmatov, E.O. Colgain and H. Yavartanoo, Fermionic T-duality in the pp-wave limit, JHEP 10 (2011) 085 [arXiv:1109.1052] [INSPIRE].

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  42. E.O. Colgain, Self-duality of the D1 − D5 near-horizon, JHEP 04 (2012) 047 [arXiv:1202.3416] [INSPIRE].

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  43. J. Drummond, J. Henn, G. Korchemsky and E. Sokatchev, Dual superconformal symmetry of scattering amplitudes in N = 4 super-Yang-Mills theory, Nucl. Phys. B 828 (2010) 317 [arXiv:0807.1095] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  44. J.M. Drummond, J.M. Henn and J. Plefka, Yangian symmetry of scattering amplitudes in N =4 super Yang-Mills theory, JHEP 05(2009) 046 [arXiv:0902.2987] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  45. S. Lee, Yangian Invariant Scattering Amplitudes in Supersymmetric Chern-Simons Theory, Phys. Rev. Lett. 105 (2010) 151603 [arXiv:1007.4772] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  46. R. Roiban, M. Spradlin and A. Volovich, Dissolving N = 4 loop amplitudes into QCD tree amplitudes, Phys. Rev. Lett. 94 (2005) 102002 [hep-th/0412265] [INSPIRE].

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  47. N. Arkani-Hamed, F. Cachazo and J. Kaplan, What is the simplest quantum field theory?, JHEP 09 (2010) 016 [arXiv:0808.1446] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  48. A. Brandhuber, P. Heslop and G. Travaglini, One-loop amplitudes in N = 4 super Yang-Mills and anomalous dual conformal symmetry, JHEP 08 (2009) 095 [arXiv:0905.4377] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  49. J. Drummond, J. Henn, G. Korchemsky and E. Sokatchev, Conformal Ward identities for Wilson loops and a test of the duality with gluon amplitudes, Nucl. Phys. B 826 (2010) 337 [arXiv:0712.1223] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  50. A. Brandhuber, P. Heslop and G. Travaglini, Proof of the dual conformal anomaly of one-loop amplitudes in N = 4 SYM, JHEP 10 (2009) 063 [arXiv:0906.3552] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  51. R. Britto, F. Cachazo and B. Feng, New recursion relations for tree amplitudes of gluons, Nucl. Phys. B 715 (2005) 499 [hep-th/0412308] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  52. R. Britto, F. Cachazo, B. Feng and E. Witten, Direct proof of tree-level recursion relation in Yang-Mills theory, Phys. Rev. Lett. 94 (2005) 181602 [hep-th/0501052] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  53. F. Cachazo, Sharpening The Leading Singularity, arXiv:0803.1988 [INSPIRE].

  54. A. Brandhuber, P. Heslop and G. Travaglini, A note on dual superconformal symmetry of the N =4 super Yang-Mills S-matrix,Phys. Rev. D 78(2008) 125005 [arXiv:0807.4097] [INSPIRE].

    MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  55. T. Bargheer, N. Beisert, W. Galleas, F. Loebbert and T. McLoughlin, Exacting N = 4 superconformal symmetry, JHEP 11 (2009) 056 [arXiv:0905.3738] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  56. N. Beisert, J. Henn, T. McLoughlin and J. Plefka, One-loop superconformal and Yangian symmetries of scattering amplitudes in N = 4 super Yang-Mills, JHEP 04 (2010) 085 [arXiv:1002.1733] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  57. D. Kazakov, The method of uniqueness, a new powerful technique for multiloop calculations, Phys. Lett. B 133 (1983) 406 [INSPIRE].

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  58. J. Gracey, On the evaluation of massless Feynman diagrams by the method of uniqueness, Phys. Lett. B 277 (1992) 469 [INSPIRE].

    MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

  59. A.I. Davydychev and J. Tausk, A magic connection between massive and massless diagrams, Phys. Rev. D 53 (1996) 7381 [hep-ph/9504431] [INSPIRE].

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  60. M. Czakon, Automatized analytic continuation of Mellin-Barnes integrals, Comput. Phys. Commun. 175 (2006) 559 [hep-ph/0511200] [INSPIRE].

    Article  ADS  MATH  Google Scholar 

  61. Z. Bern, L.J. Dixon and D.A. Kosower, One loop amplitudes for e + e to four partons, Nucl. Phys. B 513 (1998) 3 [hep-ph/9708239] [INSPIRE].

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  62. R. Britto, F. Cachazo and B. Feng, Generalized unitarity and one-loop amplitudes in N = 4 super-Yang-Mills, Nucl. Phys. B 725 (2005) 275 [hep-th/0412103] [INSPIRE].

    Article  MathSciNet  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andreas Brandhuber.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Brandhuber, A., Travaglini, G. & Wen, C. A note on amplitudes in \( \mathcal{N} = {6} \) superconformal Chern-Simons theory. J. High Energ. Phys. 2012, 160 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP07(2012)160

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP07(2012)160

Keywords

Navigation