The two-loop dilatation operator of N=4 super Yang-Mills theory in the SO(6) sector

Abstract

The dilatation operator of planar N=4 super Yang-Mills in the pure scalar SO(6) sector is derived at the two-loop order. Representation theory allows for eight free coefficients in an ansatz for the corresponding spin-chain hamiltonian acting on three adjacent scalar states. While four out of these follow from the known SU(2|3) sector two-loop dilatation operator, the remaining four coefficients are derived by diagrammatic techniques and a match to the known dimension of a length three primary operator. Finally, comments upon the use of this result for the evaluation of three-point structure functions of scalar operators at the one-loop order are given.