String Amplitudes on Integer Rectangles

Abstract

Hidden zeros of tree-level string amplitudes of colored scalars lie on loci specified by integer-valued dimensionless momentum contractions arranged in rectangles on the kinematic mesh. We study the same kinematic loci for open-string amplitudes with gluons, fermions and higher-spin states at arbitrary finite mass levels. Disk monodromy relations yield $\textit{zero-locus factorization}$: at regular points where the monodromy system is invertible, the amplitude is a weighted sum of physical three-point amplitudes sewn to complete on-shell $(n-1)$-point amplitudes. Hidden zeros follow when the external wavefunctions annihilate all contributing three-point couplings. In the low-energy limit, the massless zero-integer branch recovers the corresponding field-theory factorization. For closed strings, including gravitons, persistent cubic zeros in both chiral sectors remove the disk poles, allowing the Kawai--Lewellen--Tye momentum-kernel zero to imply amplitude zeros. The operator product expansions of external vertices give a common worldsheet origin for these conditions across spins and mass levels.