Plahte diagrams for string scattering amplitudes

Abstract

Abstract Plahte identities are monodromy relations between open string scattering amplitudes at tree level derived from the Koba-Nielsen formula. We represent these identities by polygons in the complex plane. These diagrams make manifest the appearance of sign changes and singularities in the analytic continuation of amplitudes. They provide a geometric expression of the KLT relations between closed and open string amplitudes. We also connect the diagrams to the BCFW on-shell recursion relations and generalise them to complex momenta resulting in a relation between the complex phases of partial amplitudes.