One-Loop Integrals from Spherical Projections of Planes and Quadrics

We initiate a systematic study of one-loop integrals by investigating the connection between their singularity structures and geometric configurations in the projective space associated to their Feynman parametrization. We analyze these integrals by two recursive methods, which leads to two independent algebraic algorithms that determine the symbols of any one-loop integrals in arbitrary spacetime dimensions. The discontinuities of Feynman diagrams are shown to arise from taking certain "spherical contour" residues in Feynman parameter space, which is geometrically interpreted as a projection of the quadric surface (associated to the Symanzik polynomial at one loop) through faces of the integration region (which is a simplex). This geometry also leads to a manifestly Lorentz-invariant understanding for perturbative unitarity at one loop.