Transforming the bootstrap: using transformers to compute scattering amplitudes in planar N = 4 super Yang-Mills theory

Abstract

We pursue the use of deep learning methods to improve state-of-the-art computations in theoretical high-energy physics. Planar N = 4 Super Yang-Mills theory is a close cousin to the theory that describes Higgs boson production at the Large Hadron Collider; its scattering amplitudes are large mathematical expressions containing integer coefficients. In this paper, we apply transformers to predict these coefficients. The problem can be formulated in a language-like representation amenable to standard cross-entropy training objectives. We design two related experiments and show that the model achieves high accuracy ( > 98 % ) on both tasks. Our work shows that transformers can be applied successfully to problems in theoretical physics that require exact solutions.