Crossing beyond scattering amplitudes

Abstract

Abstract We find that different asymptotic measurements in quantum field theory can be related to one another through new versions of crossing symmetry. Assuming analyticity, we conjecture generalized crossing relations for multi-particle processes and the corresponding paths of analytic continuation. We prove them to all multiplicity at tree-level in quantum field theory and string theory. We illustrate how to practically perform analytic continuations on loop-level examples using different methods, including unitarity cuts and differential equations. We study the extent to which anomalous thresholds away from the usual physical region can cause an analytic obstruction to crossing when massless particles are involved. In an appendix, we review and streamline historical proofs of four-particle crossing symmetry in gapped theories.