Theoretical foundations and applications of the Loop-Tree Duality in Quantum Field Theories

Abstract

The Loop-Tree Duality (LTD) is a novel perturbative method in QFT that establishes a relation between loop–level and tree–level scattering amplitudes. This is achieved by directly applying the Residue Theorem to the loop-energy-integration. The result is a sum over all possible single cuts of the Feynman diagram in consideration integrated over a modified phase-space. These single-cut integrals, called Dual contributions, are in fact tree-level objects and thus give rise to the opportunity of bringing loop– and tree–contributions together, treating them simultaneously in a common Monte Carlo event generator. Initially introduced for one–loop scalar integrals, the applicability of the LTD has been expanded ever since. In this thesis, we show how to deal with Feyn- man graphs beyond simple poles by taking advantage of Integration By Parts (IBP) relations. Furthermore, we investigate the cancellation of singularities among Dual con- tributions as well as between real and virtual corrections. For the first time, a numerical implementation of the LTD was done in the form of a computer program that calculates one–loop scattering diagrams. We present details on the contour deformation employed alongside the results for scalar integrals up to the pentagon- and tensor integrals up to the hexagon-level.