Gauge theories from scattering amplitudes with minimal assumptions

Abstract

We revisit the emergence of a Yang-Mills symmetry in theories with massless spin 1 particles from fundamental physical properties of scattering amplitudes. In the standard proofs, some symmetry and reality properties of the coupling constants in three-point amplitudes are assumed. These properties cannot be justified using only three-point amplitudes but we show that they arise as consequences of the consistent factorization of four-particle amplitudes, for particular choices of the particle basis. This applies to self-interactions of massless spin 1 particles and also to their interactions with spin 0 and 1/2 particles. CP invariance is a derived property, not an additional assumption. The situation for gravity interactions is analogous and it is dealt with in the same fashion.