The double copy as a doppelgänger
Open Access
- 24 March 2026
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Nature in Journal of High Energy Physics
- Vol. 2026 (3) , 224
Abstract
A bstract: The double copy relates scattering amplitudes and classical solutions in non-abelian gauge theories and gravity. As such, it is usually expressed in the conventional second-order formalisms in both theories corresponding to standard Yang-Mills theory, and the Einstein-Hilbert action in General Relativity. In this paper, we instead consider alternative formulations of gravity, which are known to terminate at finite order in the coupling at Lagrangian level. We focus in particular on the Chern-Simons-Witten (CSW) formulation in 2+1 dimensions, and argue that the double copy then becomes a doppelgänger relationship between gauge theory and gravity, allowing straightforward replacement of generators and structure constants in both theories. We show how explicit (multiple) static point-source solutions can be mapped in the two approaches, and use the CSW formalism to examine when double copies are expected to be possible, and when not. In addition, we present an explicit double copy between the Wong equations for colour charges, and the Mathisson-Papapetrou-Dixon equations for spinning particles, that extends also to higher dimensions.Keywords
All Related Versions
Funding Information
- Science and Technology Facilities Council (ST/P000754/1)
This publication has 106 references indexed in Scilit:
- Anyons and the double copyJournal of High Energy Physics, 2022
- Double Copy from Homotopy AlgebrasFortschritte der Physik, 2021
- S-duality and the double copyJournal of High Energy Physics, 2020
- Kerr-Schild double copy and complex worldlinesJournal of High Energy Physics, 2020
- Strings, extended objects, and the classical double copyJournal of High Energy Physics, 2020
- The self-dual classical double copy, and the Eguchi-Hanson instantonJournal of High Energy Physics, 2019
- Inelastic black hole scattering from charged scalar amplitudesJournal of High Energy Physics, 2018
- Next-to-soft corrections to high energy scattering in QCD and gravityJournal of High Energy Physics, 2017
- BCJ duality and the double copy in the soft limitJournal of High Energy Physics, 2013
- Field and particle equations for the classical Yang-Mills field and particles with isotopic spinIl Nuovo Cimento A (1971-1996), 1970