34 pages, 6 figures, a sign correction in eq. (3.1) and appendix addedInternational audienceWe initiate a novel formalism for computing correlation functions of trace operators in the planar N=4 SYM theory. The central object in our formalism is the spin vertex, which is the weak coupling analogy of the string vertex in string field theory. We construct the spin vertex explicitly for all sectors at the leading order using a set of bosonic and fermionic oscillators. We prove that the vertex has trivial monodromy, or put in other words, it is a Yangian invariant. Since the monodromy of the vertex is the product of the monodromies of the three states, the Yangian invariance of the vertex implies an infinite exact symmetry for the three-point function. We conjecture that this infinite symmetry can be lifted to any loop order

In this paper we consider a special kind of three-point functions of HHL type at weak coupling in N = 4 SYM theory and analyze its volume dependence. At strong coupling this kind of three-point functions were studied recently by Bajnok, Janik and Wereszczynski [1]. The authors considered some cases of HHL correlator in the su(2) sector and, relying on their explicit results, formulated a conjecture about the form of the volume dependence of the symmetric HHL structure constant to be valid at any coupling up to wrapping corrections. In order to test this hypothesis we considered the HHL correlator in su(2) sector at weak coupling and directly showed that, up to one loop, the finite volume dependence has exactly the form proposed in [1]. Another side of the conjecture suggests that computation of the symmetric structure constant is equivalent to computing the corresponding set of infinite volume form factors, which can be extracted as the coefficients of finite volume expansion. In this sense, extracting appropriate coefficients from our result gives a prediction for the corresponding infinite volume form factors.