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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Color-kinematics duality from an algebra of superforms

Roberto Bonezzi*, Christoph Chiaffrino†, Olaf Hohm‡, and Maria Foteini Kallimani§

  • *Contact author: roberto.bonezzi@physik.hu-berlin.de
  • †Contact author: chiaffrc@hu-berlin.de
  • ‡Contact author: ohohm@physik.hu-berlin.de
  • §Contact author: kallimari@physik.hu-berlin.de
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Phys. Rev. D 114, L021902 – Published 13 July, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/n331-l7jd

Abstract

Color-kinematics duality states that the kinematic numerators of the cubic tree-level Yang-Mills scattering amplitudes obey the same symmetry properties that the color factors obey due to the Jacobi identity. We present a novel strategy for deriving this duality, based on the differential forms on a superspace. This space of superforms carries a generalization of a Batalin-Vilkovisky (BV) algebra (BV□ algebra). We show that the homotopy algebra of color-stripped Yang-Mills theory is obtained as a quotient of this space in which a subspace, which is an ideal “up to homotopy,” is modded out. This algebra is a subsector of a BV∞□ algebra. Deriving the latter would provide a first-principle proof of color-kinematics duality from field theory.

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Phys. Rev. D 114, L021902– Published 13 July, 2026
  • Received 3 February 2026
  • Accepted 23 June 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP3.

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