Hidden zeros are equivalent to enhanced ultraviolet scaling and lead to unique amplitudes in Tr($φ^3$) theory

Abstract: We investigate the hidden amplitude zeros discovered by Arkani-Hamed et al., which describe a non-trivial vanishing of scattering amplitudes on special external kinematics. We first prove that every type of hidden zero is equivalent to what we call a "subset" enhanced scaling under Britto-Cachazo-Feng-Witten shifts, for any rational function built from planar Lorentz invariants $X_{ij}{=}(p_i{+}p_{i+1}{+}\ldots{+}p_{j-1})^2$. This directly applies to Tr($\phi^3$), non-linear sigma model, or Yang-Mills-scalar amplitudes, revealing a novel type of enhanced UV scaling in these theories. We also use this observation to prove the conjecture that Tr($\phi^3$) amplitudes are uniquely fixed by the zeros, up to an overall normalization, when assuming an ordered and local propagator structure and trivial numerators. In the case of Yang-Mills theory, we conjecture the zeros, combined with the Bern-Carrasco-Johansson color-kinematic duality in the form of amplitude relations, uniquely fix the $\lfloor n/2\rfloor$ distinct polarization structures of $n$-point gluon amplitudes. Our approach opens a new avenue for understanding previous similar uniqueness results, and also extending them beyond tree level for the first time.