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  • Open Access

Positive Geometry for Stringy Scalar Amplitudes

Christoph Bartsch, Karol Kampf, David Podivín, and Jonah Stalknecht

  • Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 011601 – Published 2 January, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/lb5l-twsb

Abstract

We introduce a new positive geometry, the associahedral grid, which provides a geometric realization of the inverse string theory Kawai–Lewellen–Tye kernel. It captures the full α′ dependence of stringified amplitudes for biadjoint scalar ϕ3 theory, pions in the nonlinear sigma model (NLSM), and their mixed ϕ/π amplitudes, reducing to the corresponding field theory amplitudes in the α′→0 limit. Our results demonstrate how positive geometries can be utilized beyond rational functions to capture stringy features of amplitudes, such as an infinite resonance structure. The kinematic δ shift, recently proposed to relate field theory Tr(ϕ3) and NLSM pion amplitudes, naturally emerges as the leading contribution to the stringy geometry. We show how the connection between Tr(ϕ3) and NLSM can be geometrized using the associahedral grid.

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