Infrared finite scattering theory: Amplitudes and soft theorems

Abstract

Any non-trivial scattering with massless fields in four spacetime dimensions will generically produce an out-state with memory. Scattering with any massless fields violates the standard assumption of asymptotic completeness -- that all "in" and "out" states lie in the standard (zero memory) Fock space -- and therefore leads to infrared divergences in the standard $S$-matrix amplitudes. We define an infrared finite scattering theory valid for general quantum field theories and quantum gravity. The (infrared finite) "superscattering" map $\$$ is defined as a map between "in" and "out" states which does not require any a priori choice of a preferred Hilbert space. We define a "generalized asymptotic completeness" which accommodates states with memory in the space of asymptotic states. We define a complete basis of improper states on any memory Fock space (called "BMS particle" states) which are eigenstates of the energy-momentum -- or, more generally, the BMS supermomentum -- that generalize the usual $n$-particle momentum basis to account for states with memory. We then obtain infrared finite $\$$-amplitudes defined as matrix elements of $\$$ in the BMS particle basis. This formulation of the scattering theory is a key step towards analyzing fine-grained details of the infrared finite scattering theory. In quantum gravity, invariance of $\$$ under BMS supertranslations implies factorization of $\$$-amplitudes as the frequency of one of the BMS particles vanishes. This proves an infrared finite analog of the soft graviton theorem. Similarly, an infrared finite soft photon theorem in QED follows from invariance of $\$$ under large gauge transformations. We comment on how one must generalize this framework to consider $\$$-amplitudes for theories with collinear divergences (e.g., massless QED and Yang-Mills theories).