The KLT Kernel in Twistor Space
The double copy relationship between Yang-Mills theory and general relativity can be stated in terms of a field theory Kawai-Lewellen-Tye (KLT) momentum kernel, which maps two colour-ordered gluon amplitudes to a graviton amplitude at tree-level. These amplitudes can also be written in compact, helicity-graded representations on twistor space which include the famous Parke-Taylor and Hodges formulae in the maximal helicity violating sector. However, a double copy formulation of these helicity-graded formulae has proved elusive. In this paper, we use graph-theoretic methods to obtain an explicit double copy representation of the tree-level, helicity graded S-matrix of general relativity in terms of a KLT-like integral kernel in twistor space. This integral kernel glues together two colour-ordered integrands for tree-level gluon scattering on twistor space to produce tree-level graviton amplitudes, and admits a chiral splitting into positive and negative helicity degrees of freedom. Furthermore, the kernel can be inverted to obtain a new formula for the tree-level S-matrix of biadjoint scalar theory, which we verify using recursion relations. We also derive extensions of this integral kernel to graviton scattering in anti-de Sitter space and self-dual radiative spacetimes, commenting on their potential double copy interpretations.
Authors
- Tim Adamo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3430-5764)
- Sonja Klisch (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0973-6404)
Institutions
- Maxwell Institute for Mathematical Sciences (GB)
- University of Edinburgh (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Communications in Mathematical Physics
- Published
- 2025-03-05
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s00220-025-05254-0
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- Black Holes and Theoretical Physics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 9.35
Funders
- Simons Foundation
- Leverhulme Trust
- Royal Society
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
- Science and Technology Facilities Council