Octagon at finite coupling

Abstract

We study a special class of four-point correlation functions of infinitely heavy half-BPS operators in planar N = 4 SYM which admit factorization into a product of two octagon form factors. We demonstrate that these functions satisfy a system of nonlinear integro-differential equations which are powerful enough to fully determine their dependence on the ’t Hooft coupling and two cross ratios. At weak coupling, solution to these equations yields a known series representation of the octagon in terms of ladder integrals. At strong coupling, we develop a systematic expansion of the octagon in the inverse powers of the coupling constant and calculate accompanying expansion coefficients analytically. We examine the strong coupling expansion of the correlation function in various kinematical regions and observe a perfect agreement both with the expected asymptotic behavior dictated by the OPE and with results of numerical evaluation. We find that, surprisingly enough, the strong coupling expansion is Borel summable. Applying the Borel-Padé summation method, we show that the strong coupling expansion correctly describes the correlation function over a wide region of the ’t Hooft coupling.