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Cosmological Polytopes and the Wavefunction of the Universe

Canonical reference. 100% of citing Pith papers cite this work as background.

19 Pith papers citing it
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abstract

We present a connection between the physics of cosmological time evolution and the mathematics of positive geometries, roughly analogous to similar connections seen in the context of scattering amplitudes. We consider the wavefunction of the universe in a class of toy models of conformally coupled scalars (with non-conformal interactions) in FRW cosmologies. The contribution of each Feynman diagram to the wavefunction of the universe is associated with a certain universal rational integrand, which we identify as the canonical form of a "cosmological polytope", which have an independent, intrinsic definition, making no reference to physics. The singularity structure of the wavefunction for this model of scalars is common to all theories, and is geometrized by the cosmological polytope. Natural triangulations of the polytope reproduce the path-integral and "old-fashioned perturbation theory" representations of the wavefunction, and we also find new representations of the wavefunction with no extant physical interpretation. We show in suitable examples how symmetries of the cosmological polytope descend to symmetries of the wavefunction, (such as conformal invariance). In cases such as $\phi^3$ theory in $dS_4$, the final wavefunction obtained from integration of the rational functions gives rise to polylogarithms associated with every graph. We give an explicit expression for the symbol of these polylogs, which record the geometry of sequential projections of the cosmological polytope.

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representative citing papers

Surface Water Wave Scattering and the Hydrotope

hep-th · 2026-06-26 · unverdicted · novelty 7.0

The n-wave scattering amplitude for deep-water surface gravity waves in the two-negative-wavenumber sector equals the volume of the hydrotope polytope.

Cosmological Weight-Shifting Matrices

hep-th · 2026-05-28 · unverdicted · novelty 7.0

Introduces weight-shifting matrices for de Sitter diagrams, generalized with Kronecker products to arbitrary tree-level graphs, to derive massless wavefunction coefficients from conformally coupled seeds.

Strongly Coupled Sectors in Inflation: Gapless Theories and Unparticles

hep-th · 2025-03-22 · unverdicted · novelty 7.0

Computes inflationary bispectra and trispectra from tree-level unparticle exchanges using Mellin-Barnes methods and symmetry-based differential equations, revealing that full shapes are needed to distinguish unparticles from light particles.

On the simplicity of de Sitter correlators

hep-th · 2026-04-29 · unverdicted · novelty 7.0

De Sitter correlators in conformally coupled φ³ theory admit a time-integral representation built from flat-space correlators, revealing intrinsic simplifications including vanishing of odd conjugate-momentum graphs and a smaller symbol alphabet than the corresponding wavefunction coefficients.

Differential Equations for Massive Correlators

hep-th · 2026-04-09 · unverdicted · novelty 7.0

A graph-tubing combinatorial framework governs the first-order differential equations obeyed by master integrals for massive cosmological correlators in de Sitter space.

On Cosmological Correlators with Boundary Contributions

gr-qc · 2026-06-04 · unverdicted · novelty 6.0

The paper derives a correspondence between boundary terms and field redefinitions for cosmological correlators and classifies non-vanishing boundary contributions in massive-exchange diagrams under dS isometries and broken boosts.

Kinematic Flow for Banana Loops and Unparticles

hep-th · 2026-04-24 · unverdicted · novelty 6.0

Banana loop cosmological correlators are captured by master integrals from tubings of marked graphs, with connection matrices derived from activation, merger, swap, and copy rules unique to unparticle exchanges.

Constraining Conformal Correlators

math.CO · 2026-05-29 · unverdicted · novelty 5.0

Rigorous proof that rational parts of spinning conformal correlators are spanned by known building blocks, plus combinatorial counts and closed formulas for three-point structures.

A Boolean-Lattice Perspective for All-Loop Two-Site Cosmological Wavefunction

hep-th · 2026-05-29 · unverdicted · novelty 5.0

The all-loop two-site cosmological wavefunction coefficient admits an equivalent maximal-chain expansion on the Boolean lattice that unifies the shifted-tree decomposition and the tubing construction via finite-difference operators and cubical integrals.

Correlators are simpler than wavefunctions

hep-th · 2025-12-29 · unverdicted · novelty 5.0

Equal-time correlators are simpler than wavefunctions because full-spacetime integration of propagators eliminates certain poles and yields a vanishing first subleading term in every Laurent expansion around poles.

BCFW like recursion for Deformed Associahedron

hep-th · 2025-07-19 · unverdicted · novelty 5.0

Adapts BCFW-style recursion to deformed ABHY-associahedron and D-type cluster polytopes for tree-level and one-loop amplitudes in multi-scalar cubic theories.

An Alternative Viewpoint on Kinematic Flow from Tubing Splitting

hep-th · 2026-05-18 · unverdicted · novelty 3.0

Reversing the direction of tubing evolution yields splitting rules that reproduce the kinematic flow differential equations at tree level and suggest time emerges from kinematic space in conformally coupled scalar models and tr phi^3 theory.

citing papers explorer

Showing 18 of 18 citing papers after filters.

  • Surface Water Wave Scattering and the Hydrotope hep-th · 2026-06-26 · unverdicted · none · ref 22 · internal anchor

    The n-wave scattering amplitude for deep-water surface gravity waves in the two-negative-wavenumber sector equals the volume of the hydrotope polytope.

  • A Graphical Coaction for FRW Integrals from Partial/Relative Twisted (Co)homology hep-th · 2026-06-11 · unverdicted · none · ref 52 · internal anchor

    Constructs a graphical coaction for all-loop FRW integrals in conformally-coupled scalar theories via twisted (co)homology, with combinatorial description of kinematic flow and a public web app for computation.

  • On-Shell Bootstrap of Loop Inflation Correlators with Spectral Dispersion hep-th · 2026-06-01 · unverdicted · none · ref 84 · internal anchor

    Introduces spectral dispersion bootstrap combining dS spectral decomposition and dispersion relations to compute 3- and 4-point loop correlators with massive scalar and vector exchanges.

  • Cosmological Weight-Shifting Matrices hep-th · 2026-05-28 · unverdicted · none · ref 4 · internal anchor

    Introduces weight-shifting matrices for de Sitter diagrams, generalized with Kronecker products to arbitrary tree-level graphs, to derive massless wavefunction coefficients from conformally coupled seeds.

  • Strongly Coupled Sectors in Inflation: Gapless Theories and Unparticles hep-th · 2025-03-22 · unverdicted · none · ref 104 · internal anchor

    Computes inflationary bispectra and trispectra from tree-level unparticle exchanges using Mellin-Barnes methods and symmetry-based differential equations, revealing that full shapes are needed to distinguish unparticles from light particles.

  • On the simplicity of de Sitter correlators hep-th · 2026-04-29 · unverdicted · none · ref 11

    De Sitter correlators in conformally coupled φ³ theory admit a time-integral representation built from flat-space correlators, revealing intrinsic simplifications including vanishing of odd conjugate-momentum graphs and a smaller symbol alphabet than the corresponding wavefunction coefficients.

  • Loop integrals in de Sitter spacetime: The parity-split IBP system and $\mathrm{d}\log$-form differential equations hep-th · 2026-04-16 · unverdicted · none · ref 23

    A parity-split IBP system for n-propagator families in de Sitter space is identified, along with a conjecture that dlog-form differential equations extend to dS integrands with Hankel functions, verified for the one-loop bubble.

  • Differential Equations for Massive Correlators hep-th · 2026-04-09 · unverdicted · none · ref 5

    A graph-tubing combinatorial framework governs the first-order differential equations obeyed by master integrals for massive cosmological correlators in de Sitter space.

  • On Cosmological Correlators with Boundary Contributions gr-qc · 2026-06-04 · unverdicted · none · ref 6 · internal anchor

    The paper derives a correspondence between boundary terms and field redefinitions for cosmological correlators and classifies non-vanishing boundary contributions in massive-exchange diagrams under dS isometries and broken boosts.

  • Central limit theorems for high dimensional lattice polytopes: cosmological polytopes math.CO · 2026-05-22 · unverdicted · none · ref 1 · internal anchor

    Proves asymptotic expectations, variances, and quantitative CLTs for edge counts in cosmological polytopes from ER graphs via graph descriptions and discrete Malliavin-Stein method.

  • de Sitter Wavefunction from Quadrangular Polylogarithms: Chain Graphs hep-th · 2026-05-07 · unverdicted · none · ref 3

    The n-site chain graph contribution to the de Sitter cosmological wavefunction in conformally coupled φ³ theory is expressed explicitly in terms of Rudenko's quadrangular polylogarithms.

  • Kinematic Flow for Banana Loops and Unparticles hep-th · 2026-04-24 · unverdicted · none · ref 25

    Banana loop cosmological correlators are captured by master integrals from tubings of marked graphs, with connection matrices derived from activation, merger, swap, and copy rules unique to unparticle exchanges.

  • Constraining Conformal Correlators math.CO · 2026-05-29 · unverdicted · none · ref 1 · internal anchor

    Rigorous proof that rational parts of spinning conformal correlators are spanned by known building blocks, plus combinatorial counts and closed formulas for three-point structures.

  • A Boolean-Lattice Perspective for All-Loop Two-Site Cosmological Wavefunction hep-th · 2026-05-29 · unverdicted · none · ref 2 · internal anchor

    The all-loop two-site cosmological wavefunction coefficient admits an equivalent maximal-chain expansion on the Boolean lattice that unifies the shifted-tree decomposition and the tubing construction via finite-difference operators and cubical integrals.

  • Correlators are simpler than wavefunctions hep-th · 2025-12-29 · unverdicted · none · ref 1 · internal anchor

    Equal-time correlators are simpler than wavefunctions because full-spacetime integration of propagators eliminates certain poles and yields a vanishing first subleading term in every Laurent expansion around poles.

  • BCFW like recursion for Deformed Associahedron hep-th · 2025-07-19 · unverdicted · none · ref 21 · internal anchor

    Adapts BCFW-style recursion to deformed ABHY-associahedron and D-type cluster polytopes for tree-level and one-loop amplitudes in multi-scalar cubic theories.

  • A Match Made in Heaven: Linking Observables in Inflationary Cosmology hep-th · 2025-05-21 · unverdicted · none · ref 14 · internal anchor

    In dynamical Chern-Simons inflation the parity-odd trispectrum is a double copy of the mixed bispectrum and parity-odd power spectrum via a prior factorization formula.

  • An Alternative Viewpoint on Kinematic Flow from Tubing Splitting hep-th · 2026-05-18 · unverdicted · none · ref 63 · internal anchor

    Reversing the direction of tubing evolution yields splitting rules that reproduce the kinematic flow differential equations at tree level and suggest time emerges from kinematic space in conformally coupled scalar models and tr phi^3 theory.