Hypergeometric Feynman Integrals

Abstract

In this thesis we will study Feynman integrals from the perspective of A-hypergeometric functions, a generalization of hypergeometric functions which goes back to Gelfand, Kapranov, Zelevinsky (GKZ) and their collaborators. This point of view was recently initiated by the works [74] and [150]. Inter alia, we want to provide here a concise summary of the mathematical foundations of A-hypergeometric theory in order to substantiate this viewpoint. This overview will concern aspects of polytopal geometry, multivariate discriminants as well as holonomic D-modules. As we will subsequently show, every scalar Feynman integral is an A-hypergeometric function. Furthermore, all coefficients of the Laurent expansion as appearing in dimensional and analytical regularization can be expressed by A-hypergeometric functions as well. Moreover, we can derive an explicit formula for series representations of each Feynman integrals, which is in particular suitable for an algorithmic approach. In addition, the A-hypergeometric theory enables us to give a mathematically rigorous description of the analytic structure of Feynman integrals (also known as Landau variety) by means of principal A-determinants and A-discriminants. This description of the singular locus will also comprise the various second-type singularities. Furthermore, we will find contributions to the singular locus occurring in higher loop diagrams, which seem to have been overlooked in previous approaches. By means of the Horn-Kapranov-parameterization we also provide a very efficient way to determine parameterizations of Landau varieties. We furthermore present a new approach to study the sheet structure of multivalued Feynman integrals by use of coamoebas.