Expansion formula of one-loop Einstein-Yang-Mills integrand

TL;DR

This paper derives an expansion formula for one-loop Einstein-Yang-Mills integrands in terms of standard Yang-Mills integrands, revealing a shared kinematic structure that aids in constructing BCJ numerators.

Contribution

It introduces a novel expansion strategy for one-loop EYM integrands using tree-level amplitudes and establishes a connection with YMS integrand expansions.

Findings

EYM integrand expressed via tree-level amplitudes using forward limit

Decomposition of EYM integrand into YM and bi-adjoint scalar amplitudes

Shared kinematic coefficients with YMS integrand expansion

Abstract

Building upon the algebraic consistency construction of one-loop Bern-Carrasco-Johansson (BCJ) numerators for Yang-Mills (YM) and Yang-Mills-scalar (YMS) theories, we explore the expansion formula of one-loop Einstein-Yang-Mills (EYM) integrands (with a gluon loop) in terms of conventional one-loop YM integrands with quadratic propagators. We first express the EYM integrand by tree-level amplitudes according to the forward limit approach. Employing a two-step expansion strategy, the gluon-loop EYM integrand is decomposed into tree-level YM amplitudes under the forward limit, which are subsequently expanded into tree-level bi-adjoint scalar (BS) ones. We then prove that when the kinematic coefficients in both expansion steps satisfy the one-loop consistency conditions, the EYM integrand is finally expanded as a combination of YM integrands with quadratic propagators. The coefficients in this expansion formula coincide exactly with those in the expansion formula for YMS integrands. This correspondence highlights a shared kinematic structure, providing the proper foundation for constructing BCJ numerators in both YMS and EYM theories at one loop.