Characterizing the solutions to scattering equations that support tree-level N^(k)MHV gauge/gravity amplitudes

In this paper we define, independent of theories, two discriminant matrices involving a solution to the scattering equations in four dimensions, the ranks of which are used to divide the solution set into a disjoint union of subsets. We further demonstrate, {entirely within the Cachazo-He-Yuan formalism,} that each subset of solutions gives nonzero contribution to tree-level $\text{N}^{k}\text{MHV}$ gauge/gravity amplitudes only for a specific value of $k$. Thus the solutions can be characterized by the rank of their discriminant matrices, which in turn determines the value of $k$ of the $\text{N}^{k} \text{MHV}$ amplitudes a solution can support. As another application of the technique developed, we show analytically that in Einstein-Yang-Mills theory, if all gluons have the same helicity, the tree-level single-trace amplitudes must vanish.