Eliminating spurious poles from gauge-theoretic amplitudes

TL;DR

This paper introduces new twistor coordinates based on dual conformal invariance to eliminate spurious poles in gauge-theoretic scattering amplitudes, simplifying calculations and revealing geometric and supersymmetric structures.

Contribution

It proposes a novel momentum-twistor coordinate system and a new twistor integral that eliminate spurious poles and simplify amplitude analysis.

Findings

Spurious poles are eliminated in NMHV amplitudes using new coordinates.

The formalism suggests a supersymmetric extension for all NMHV amplitudes.

The approach offers a new geometric perspective on scattering amplitudes.

Abstract

This note addresses the problem of spurious poles in gauge-theoretic scattering amplitudes. New twistor coordinates for the momenta are introduced, based on the concept of dual conformal invariance. The cancellation of spurious poles for a class of NMHV amplitudes is greatly simplified in these coordinates. The poles are eliminated altogether by defining a new type of twistor integral, dual to twistor diagrams as previously studied, and considerably simpler. The geometric features indicate a supersymmetric extension of the formalism at least to all NMHV amplitudes, allowing the dihedral symmetry of the super-amplitude to be made manifest. More generally, the definition of `momentum-twistor' coordinates suggests a powerful new approach to the study of scattering amplitudes.