G-functions and gluon scattering amplitudes at strong coupling

Abstract

We study gluon scattering amplitudes/Wilson loops in N = 4 super Yang-Mills theory at strong coupling by calculating the area of the minimal surfaces in AdS3 based on the associated thermodynamic Bethe ansatz system. The remainder function of the amplitudes is computed by evaluating the free energy, the T- and Y-functions of the homogeneous sine-Gordon model. Using conformal field theory (CFT) perturbation, we examine the mass corrections to the free energy around the CFT point corresponding to the regular polygonal Wilson loop. Based on the relation between the T-functions and the g-functions, which measure the boundary entropy, we calculate corrections to the T- and Yfunctions as well as express them at the CFT point by the modular S-matrix. We evaluate the remainder function around the CFT point for 8 and 10-point amplitudes explicitly and compare these analytic expressions with the 2-loop formulas. The two rescaled remainder functions show very similar power series structures. © SISSA 2011.