Positive Geometries as Dual Volumes

Elia Mazzucchelli (MPP, Munich)

Mar 23. 2026, 14:15 — 15:15

Positive geometries are geometric objects at the interface between physics and mathematics, born in the study of scattering amplitudes. The usual definition of a positive geometry consists of a real semialgebraic set together with a complex meromorphic differential form—the canonical form—uniquely characterized by recursive properties on its boundaries. A prototypical example is the amplituhedron, a semialgebraic set in the Grassmannian whose canonical form computes the integrand of scattering amplitudes in planar N=4 super Yang–Mills theory.

In this talk, I introduce a dual notion of positive geometries, in which the central object is no longer a differential form but rather a probability distribution supported on a dual semialgebraic set. From this perspective, the canonical form effectively computes a volume associated with this distribution. This framework naturally explains—and geometrizes—the strong positivity properties of amplitudes and related observables that have been recently uncovered. 

Further Information
Venue:
ESI Boltzmann Lecture Hall
Associated Event:
Amplitudes and Algebraic Geometry (Thematic Programme)
Organizer(s):
Daniele Agostini (U Tübingen)
Lara Bossinger (UNAM, Oaxaca)
Ruth Britto (Trinity College, Dublin)
Johannes Henn (MPP, Munich)
Jianrong Li (U of Vienna)
Anna-Laura Sattelberger (MPI MIS, Leipzig)
Oliver Schlotterer (Uppsala U)