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Classical eikonal from Magnus expansion

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arxiv 2410.22988 v3 pith:IV7LSCSJ submitted 2024-10-30 hep-th

classification hep-th
keywords classicaleikonalexpansionmagnusmethodstreecoefficientscompute
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal
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In a classical scattering problem, the classical eikonal is defined as the generator of the canonical transformation that maps in-states to out-states. It can be regarded as the classical limit of the log of the quantum S-matrix. In a classical analog of the Born approximation in quantum mechanics, the classical eikonal admits an expansion in oriented tree graphs, where oriented edges denote retarded/advanced worldline propagators. The Magnus expansion, which takes the log of a time-ordered exponential integral, offers an efficient method to compute the coefficients of the tree graphs to all orders. We exploit a Hopf algebra structure behind the Magnus expansion to develop a fast algorithm which can compute the tree coefficients up to the 12th order (over half a million trees) in less than an hour. In a relativistic setting, our methods can be applied to the post-Minkowskian (PM) expansion for gravitational binaries in the worldline formalism. We demonstrate the methods by computing the 3PM eikonal and find agreement with previous results based on amplitude methods. Importantly, the Magnus expansion yields a finite eikonal, while the na\"ive eikonal based on the time-symmetric propagator is infrared-divergent from 3PM on.

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Cited by 5 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score. Full citation record

  1. Conservative Black Hole Scattering at Fifth Post-Minkowskian and Second Self-Force Order

    hep-th 2026-01 conditional novelty 7.0 of 10

    The conservative black-hole scattering angle at fifth post-Minkowskian and second self-force order is computed in terms of K3 periods, but contains a coefficient fixed only by an ad hoc 'γ-3' prescription.

  2. First Look at Quartic-in-Spin Binary Dynamics at Third Post-Minkowskian Order

    hep-th 2025-02 conditional novelty 7.0 of 10

    The O(G^3) conservative and radiation-reaction classical observables for spinning black-hole scattering are extended to quartic order in spin, with all-order-in-spin radiation reaction beyond the aligned-spin limit.

  3. The Magnusian generator for dissipative systems and application to leading 2.5PN radiation-reaction dynamics

    gr-qc 2026-07 accept novelty 6.0 of 10

    The Magnusian is generalized via the in-in formalism to dissipative and nonlocal dynamics, yielding an explicit one-period generator for Newtonian binaries with 2.5PN radiation reaction that agrees with numerics.

  4. Classical eikonal in relativistic scattering

    hep-th 2025-09 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    A classical interaction picture defines the classical eikonal directly in classical mechanics and yields all-order eikonal formulas for relativistic probes in EM and gravitational backgrounds.

  5. Manifest symplecticity in classical scattering

    hep-th 2025-11 conditional novelty 4.0 of 10

    The on-shell action and the exponential scattering generator differ as functions, but the on-shell action of the true Hamiltonian equals the on-shell action of the generator treated as a unit-time effective Hamiltonian.

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