Spectral asymptotics for the Schrödinger operator with a non-decaying potential

We study Schrödinger operators H ( h ) = − h 2 Δ + V ( x ) acting in L 2 ( R n ) for non-decaying potentials V. We give a full asymptotic expansion of the spectral shift function for a pair of such operators in the high energy limit. In particular for asymptotically homogeneous potentials W at infinity of degree zero, we also study the semiclassical asymptotics to give a Weyl formula of the spectral shift function above the threshold max W and Mourre estimates in the range of W except at its critical values.

Radiative classical gravitational observables at $$ \mathcal{O} $$(G3) from scattering amplitudes

We compute classical gravitational observables for the scattering of two spinless black holes in general relativity and $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N =8 supergravity in the formalism of Kosower, Maybee, and O’Connell (KMOC). We focus on the gravitational impulse with radiation reaction and the radiated momentum in black hole scattering at $$ \mathcal{O} $$ O (G3) to all orders in the velocity. These classical observables require the construction and evaluation of certain loop-level quantities which are greatly simplified by harnessing recent advances from scattering amplitudes and collider physics. In particular, we make use of generalized unitarity to construct the relevant loop integrands, employ reverse unitarity, the method of regions, integration-by-parts (IBP), and (canonical) differential equations to simplify and evaluate all loop and phase-space integrals to obtain the classical gravitational observables of interest to two-loop order. The KMOC formalism naturally incorporates radiation effects which enables us to explore these classical quantities beyond the conservative two-body dynamics. From the impulse and the radiated momentum, we extract the scattering angle and the radiated energy. Finally, we discuss universality of the impulse in the high-energy limit and the relation to the eikonal phase.

Improved generalized periods estimates over curves on Riemannian surfaces with nonpositive curvature

We show that, on compact Riemannian surfaces of nonpositive curvature, the generalized periods, i.e. the 𝜈-th order Fourier coefficients of eigenfunctions e λ e_{\lambda} over a closed smooth curve 𝛾 which satisfies a natural curvature condition, go to 0 at the rate of O ⁢ ( ( log ⁡ λ ) - 1 2 ) O((\log\lambda)^{-\frac{1}{2}}) in the high energy limit λ → ∞ \lambda\to\infty if 0 < | ν | λ < 1 - δ 0<\frac{\lvert\nu\rvert}{\lambda}<1-\delta for any fixed 0 < δ < 1 0<\delta<1 . Our result implies, for instance, that the generalized periods over geodesic circles on any surfaces with nonpositive curvature would converge to zero at the rate of O ⁢ ( ( log ⁡ λ ) - 1 2 ) O((\log\lambda)^{-\frac{1}{2}}) .

Loops and trees in generic EFTs

We consider aspects of tree and one-loop behavior in a generic 4d EFT of massless scalars, fermions, and vectors, with a particular eye to the high-energy limit of the Standard Model EFT at operator dimensions 6 and 8. First, we classify the possible Lorentz structures of operators and the subset of these that can arise at tree-level in a weakly coupled UV completion, extending the tree/loop classification through dimension 8 using functional methods. Second, we investigate how operators contribute to tree and one-loop helicity amplitudes, exploring the impact of non-renormalization theorems through dimension 8. We further observe that many dimension 6 contributions to helicity amplitudes, including rational parts, vanish exactly at one-loop level. This suggests the impact of helicity selection rules extends beyond one loop in non-supersymmetric EFTs.

Aspects of high energy scattering

Scattering amplitudes in quantum field theories are of widespread interest, due to a large number of theoretical and phenomenological applications. Much is known about the possible behaviour of amplitudes, that is independent of the details of the underlying theory. This knowledge is often neglected in modern QFT courses, and the aim of these notes - aimed at graduate students - is to redress this. We review the possible singularities that amplitudes can have, before examining the generic behaviour that can arise in the high-energy limit. Finally, we illustrate the results using examples from QCD and gravity.