The S-matrix reloaded

          @misc{ scivideos_PIRSA:09010009,
            doi = {10.48660/09010009},
            url = {https://pirsa.org/09010009},
            author = {Cachazo, Freddy},
            keywords = {Quantum Fields and Strings},
            language = {en},
            title = {The S-matrix reloaded},
            publisher = {Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics},
            year = {2009},
            month = {jan},
            note = {PIRSA:09010009 see, \url{https://scivideos.org/index.php/pirsa/09010009}}
          }
          

Abstract

In the 60’s, the analytic S-matrix program was developed in an attempt to describe the strong interactions – at the time, this was a theory of massive particles like pions. The S-matrix is an object that encodes the information of the probability of producing a certain set of final particles from a given set of initial particles. Eventually, the S-matrix program was replaced by Quantum Field Theory and in particular by Quantum Chromo Dynamics as the description of the strong interactions. In recent years there has been a resurrection of the S-matrix paradigm. The current view is that S-matrix techniques are most natural and powerful in theories of massless particles! Moreover, from this new perspective, the simplest quantum field theory to consider is now believed to be the maximally supersymmetric gravity theory. If the expectation is correct then N=8 supergravity will turn out to be a finite theory of gravity in perturbation theory.