Excited Hexagon Wilson Loops for Strongly Coupled N=4 SYM

TL;DR

This paper investigates the six-gluon scattering amplitude in strongly coupled N=4 SYM, linking quantum excitations to the Regge limit of the remainder function, and computes its value.

Contribution

It introduces a novel connection between quantum excitations of an auxiliary system and the Regge limit of the amplitude at strong coupling.

Findings

Identifies excitations determining the Regge limit at strong coupling.

Calculates the precise value of the remainder function in this limit.

Links weak and strong coupling behaviors through quantum system analysis.

Abstract

This work is devoted to the six-gluon scattering amplitude in strongly coupled N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. At weak coupling, an appropriate high energy limit of the so-called remainder function, i.e. of the deviation from the BDS formula, may be understood in terms of the lowest eigenvalue of the BFKL hamiltonian. According to Alday et al., amplitudes in the strongly coupled theory can be constructed through an auxiliary 1-dimensional quantum system. We argue that certain excitations of this quantum system determine the Regge limit of the remainder function at strong coupling and we compute its precise value.