Towards S matrices on flat space and pp waves from SYM

Abstract

We analyze the possibility of extracting S matrices on pp waves and flat space from SYM correlators. For pp waves, there is a subtlety in defining S matrices, but we can certainly obtain observables. Only extremal correlators survive the pp wave limit. A first quantized string approach is inconclusive, producing in the simplest form results that vanish in the pp wave limit. We define a procedure to get S matrices from SYM correlators, both for flat space and for pp waves, generalizing a procedure due to Giddings. We analyze nonrenormalized correlators: 2 and 3 -point functions and extremal correlators. For the extremal 3-point function, the SYM and AdS results for the S matrix match for the angular dependence, but the energy dependence doesn't.