We study scattering amplitudes of massive BPS states on the Coulomb branch of 4d N = 4 super-Yang-Mills, utilising a little group covariant on-shell superspace for massive particles. Super-BCFW recursion for massive amplitudes is constructed and its validity is proven for all Coulomb branch superamplitudes. We then determine the exact three-particle superamplitudes for massive states. These ingredients allow us to explicitly compute the four-and five-particle superamplitudes, which is the first non-trivial usage of BCFW recursion for amplitudes with entirely massive external states. The manifest little group covariance helps clarify both the role of special kinematic properties of BPS states and the organizational structures of the superamplitudes.

We generalize the color/kinematics duality of flat-space scattering amplitudes to the embedding space formulation of AdS boundary correlators. Kinematic numerators and propagators are replaced with differential operators acting on a scalar contact diagram that is the AdS generalization of the momentum conserving delta function of flat space scattering amplitudes. We show that color/kinematics duality implies differential relations among AdS boundary correlators that naturally generalize the flat space BCJ amplitude relations and verify them for the correlators of Yang-Mills theory and of the Nonlinear Sigma Model through four- and six-points, respectively. For the latter we also find representations of the four- and six-point correlator that manifest the duality. Possible double-copy procedures in AdS space are also discussed.

We formulate a new program to generalize the double-copy of tree amplitudes. The approach exploits the link between the identity element of the “KLT algebra” and the KLT kernel, and we demonstrate how this leads to a set of KLT bootstrap equations that the double-copy kernel has to satisfy in addition to locality constraints. We solve the KLT bootstrap equations perturbatively to find the most general higher-derivative corrections to the 4- and 5-point field theory KLT kernel. The new kernel generalizes the string KLT kernel and its associated monodromy relations. It admits new color-structures in the effective theories it double-copies. It provides distinct generalized KK and BCJ relations for the left and right single-color theories and is in that sense a ‘heterotic’-type double-copy. We illustrate the generalized double-copy in detail for 4d Yang-Mills theory with higher-derivative corrections that produce dilaton-axion-gravity with local operators up order ∇10R4. Finally, we initiate a search for new double-copy kernels.

There is a remarkable connection between the boundary structure of the positive kinematic region and branch points of integrated amplitudes in planar $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 4 SYM. A long-standing question has been precisely how algebraic branch points emerge from this picture. We use wall crossing and scattering diagrams to systematically study the boundary structure of the positive kinematic regions associated with MHV amplitudes. The notion of asymptotic chambers in the scattering diagram naturally explains the appearance of algebraic branch points. Furthermore, the scattering diagram construction also motivates a new coordinate system for kinematic space that rationalizes the relations between algebraic letters in the symbol alphabet. As a direct application, we conjecture a complete list of all algebraic letters that could appear in the symbol alphabet of the 8-point MHV amplitude.