$Λ$ Scattering Equations

Abstract

The CHY representation of scattering amplitudes is based on integrals over the moduli space of a punctured sphere. We replace the punctured sphere by a double-cover version. The resulting scattering equations depend on a parameter $Λ$ controlling the opening of a branch cut. The new representation of scattering amplitudes possesses an enhanced redundancy which can be used to fix, modulo branches, the location of four punctures while promoting $Λ$ to a variable. Via residue theorems we show how CHY formulas break up into sums of products of smaller (off-shell) ones times a propagator. This leads to a powerful way of evaluating CHY integrals of generic rational functions, which we call the $Λ$ algorithm.

v3: ref added, minor typos fixed