"The Amplituhedron" by Nima Arkani-Hamed and Jaroslav Trnka has
been selected for the 2024 Frontiers of Science Award in Theoretical
Physics.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/JHEP10(2014)030

What is this about?
Scattering amplitudes are fundamental objects in quantum theories.  Traditionally, one hypothesizes physical requirements such as locality and unitarity. The amplitudes are computed by summing over all physical processes that lead from the initial to the final state. The paper proposes the concept of the Amplituhedron, which eschews these for a platonic ideal of an underlying geometric construct.  Physical principles are argued to follow as a corollary. The framework captures the basic essence of quantum dynamics and distills it into fundamental building blocks ,which are not particles or their associated fields. By abstracting the essential features, the authors argue that they can write down a simpler theory, maintaining all the symmetries and simplifying computations. 

Published: April 18, 2024, 10:07 am