Scattering and Strebel graphs

Abstract

We consider a special scattering experiment with n particles in \mathbb{R}^{1,n-3}ℝ1,n−3. The scattering equations in this set-up become the saddle-point equations of a Penner-like matrix model, where in the large nn limit, the spectral curve is directly related to the unique Strebel differential on a Riemann sphere with three punctures. The solutions to the scattering equations localize along different kinds of graphs, tuned by a kinematic variable. We conclude with a few comments on a connection between these graphs and scattering in the Gross-Mende limit.