The twistor tag has no wiki summary.
2
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0answers
51 views
Helicity for Zero Rest Mass Field Equations
I'm trying to reconcile the usual definition of the helicity operator, namely
$$ h = \hat{p}.S$$
with the definition of a massless helicity $n$ field as a symmetric spinor field $\phi^{A\dots B}$ ...
4
votes
2answers
114 views
Twistor Function for Coulomb Field
In an article by Penrose in Hughston and Ward "Advances in Twistor Theory", it is claimed that the twistor function
$$ f(Z^\alpha) = \log{\frac{Z^1Z^2 - Z^0Z^3}{Z^2Z^3}}$$
produces an anti-self-dual ...
2
votes
1answer
216 views
What happens to string theory if spacetime is doomed?
What is expected to happen with string theory, if physics is reformulated according the lines hinted at by the twistor-uprising business discussed in this question and its answers for example and ...
8
votes
1answer
161 views
Can modern twistor methods to calculate scattering amplitudes be applied to renormalization group calculations?
As explained for example in this article by Prof. Strassler, modern twistor methods to calculate scattering amplitudes have already been proven immensely helpful to calculate the standard model ...
7
votes
3answers
343 views
MVH amplitudes and the unitarity method
In the last 5 years there has been a silent revolution in QFT called the unitarity method and the Maximum Violating Helicity (MVH) Amplitudes that basically consist an alternative way to obtain the ...
17
votes
3answers
107 views
Twistors in Curved Spacetime
I am looking for good and recent references to constructing twistor space for curved spacetime. This could be a general spacetime, or specific ones (say maximally symmetric spaces different from ...
1
vote
0answers
115 views
Approaches to Quantum gravity [closed]
I'm going to start my graduate studies in theoretical physics. My supervisor wants me to work on quantum gravity. He gave me the liberty to chose a particular approach to Quantum gravity (Excluding ...
19
votes
2answers
66 views
Kerr Geometry, Separability and Twistors
One of the remarkable properties of the Kerr black hole geometry is that scalar field equations separate and are exactly solvable (reducible to quadrature), even though naively it does not have enough ...
10
votes
1answer
265 views
Any practical results yet from 'Twistor Uprising'?
In Nima's lectures on the 'Twistor Uprising' (for example here), he gushes about about new powerful techniques for calculating amplitudes, such as summing Feynman diagrams using 'BCFW recursion.' He ...
5
votes
2answers
544 views
Gentle introduction to twistors
When reading about the twistor uprising or trying to follow a corresponding Nima talk, it always annoys me that I have no clue about how twistor space, the twistor formalism, or twistor theory works. ...
3
votes
1answer
185 views
Twistor notation in space-time (Part 1)
This is sort of a continuation of this and this previous discussions.
In the first of my links one sees the surjective isometry between real or complex $(1,3)$ signature Minkowski space and the real ...
16
votes
2answers
2k views
Is there a T-dual of Witten's twistor topological string theory?
In late 2003, Edward Witten released a paper that revived the interest in Roger Penrose's twistors among particle physicists. The scattering amplitudes of gluons in $N=4$ gauge theory in four ...
5
votes
3answers
397 views
twistor-spacetime correspondence
Could someone explain the correspondence between lines in twistor space and minkowski space-time points? a basic derivation would suffice
