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In 2005, Britto, Cachazo, Feng, and Witten gave a recurrence (now known as the BCFW recurrence) for computing scattering amplitudes inN= 4 super Yang–Mills theory. Arkani-Hamed and Trnka subsequently introduced the amplituhedron to give a geometric interpretation of the BCFW recurrence. Arkani-Hamed and Trnka conjectured that each way of iterating the BCFW recurrence gives a “triangulation” or “tiling” of the m=4 amplituhedron. In this article, we prove the BCFW tiling conjecture of Arkani-Hamed and Trnka. We also prove the cluster adjacency conjecture for BCFW tiles of the amplituhedron, which says that facets of tiles are cut out by collections of compatible cluster variables for the Grassmannian Gr4,n. Moreover we show that each BCFW tile is the subset of the Grassmannian where certain cluster variables have particular signs. 

Abstract The amplituhedron is a mathematical object which was introduced to provide a geometric origin of scattering amplitudes in$$\mathcal {N}=4$$ $N=4$super Yang–Mills theory. It generalizescyclic polytopesand thepositive Grassmannianand has a very rich combinatorics with connections to cluster algebras. In this article, we provide a series of results about tiles and tilings of the$$m=4$$ $m=4$amplituhedron. Firstly, we provide a full characterization of facets of BCFW tiles in terms of cluster variables for$$\text{ Gr}_{4,n}$$ ${\text{Gr}}_{4,n}$. Secondly, we exhibit a tiling of the$$m=4$$ $m=4$amplituhedron which involves a tile which does not come from the BCFW recurrence—thespuriontile, which also satisfies all cluster properties. Finally, strengthening the connection with cluster algebras, we show that each standard BCFW tile is the positive part of a cluster variety, which allows us to compute the canonical form of each such tile explicitly in terms of cluster variables for$$\text{ Gr}_{4,n}$$ ${\text{Gr}}_{4,n}$. This paper is a companion to our previous paper “Cluster algebras and tilings for the$$m=4$$ $m=4$amplituhedron.” 

The hypersimplex ${\mathrm{\Delta <\#comment/>}}_{k+1,n}$is the image of the positive Grassmannian $G{r}_{k+1,n}^{\ge <\#comment/>0}$under the moment map. It is a polytope of dimension $n-<\#comment/>1$in ${\mathbb{R}}^n$. Meanwhile, the amplituhedron ${\mathcal{A}}_{n,k,2}\left(Z\right)$is the projection of the positive Grassmannian $G{r}_{k,n}^{\ge <\#comment/>0}$into the Grassmannian $G{r}_{k,k+2}$under a map $\stackrel{~<\#comment/>}{Z}$induced by a positive matrix $Z\in <\#comment/>Ma{t}_{n,k+2}^{>0}$. Introduced in the context ofscattering amplitudes, it is not a polytope, and has full dimension $2k$inside $G{r}_{k,k+2}$. Nevertheless, there seem to be remarkable connections between these two objects viaT-duality, as conjectured by Łukowski, Parisi, and Williams [Int. Math. Res. Not. (2023)]. In this paper we use ideas from oriented matroid theory, total positivity, and the geometry of the hypersimplex and positroid polytopes to obtain a deeper understanding of the amplituhedron. We show that the inequalities cutting outpositroid polytopes—images of positroid cells of $G{r}_{k+1,n}^{\ge <\#comment/>0}$under the moment map—translate into sign conditions characterizing the T-dualGrasstopes—images of positroid cells of $G{r}_{k,n}^{\ge <\#comment/>0}$under $\stackrel{~<\#comment/>}{Z}$. Moreover, we subdivide the amplituhedron intochambers, just as the hypersimplex can be subdivided into simplices, with both chambers and simplices enumerated by the Eulerian numbers. We use these properties to prove the main conjecture of Łukowski, Parisi, and Williams [Int. Math. Res. Not. (2023)]: a collection of positroid polytopes is a tiling of the hypersimplex if and only if the collection of T-dual Grasstopes is a tiling of the amplituhedron ${\mathcal{A}}_{n,k,2}\left(Z\right)$for all $Z$. Moreover, we prove Arkani-Hamed–Thomas–Trnka’s conjectural sign-flip characterization of ${\mathcal{A}}_{n,k,2}$, and Łukowski–Parisi–Spradlin–Volovich’s conjectures on $m=2$cluster adjacencyand onpositroid tilesfor ${\mathcal{A}}_{n,k,2}$(images of $2k$-dimensional positroid cells which map injectively into ${\mathcal{A}}_{n,k,2}$). Finally, we introduce new cluster structures in the amplituhedron. 

Abstract The positive Grassmannian $$Gr^{\geq 0}_{k,n}$$ is a cell complex consisting of all points in the real Grassmannian whose Plücker coordinates are non-negative. In this paper we consider the image of the positive Grassmannian and its positroid cells under two different maps: the moment map$$\mu $$ onto the hypersimplex [ 31] and the amplituhedron map$$\tilde{Z}$$ onto the amplituhedron [ 6]. For either map, we define a positroid dissection to be a collection of images of positroid cells that are disjoint and cover a dense subset of the image. Positroid dissections of the hypersimplex are of interest because they include many matroid subdivisions; meanwhile, positroid dissections of the amplituhedron can be used to calculate the amplituhedron’s ‘volume’, which in turn computes scattering amplitudes in $$\mathcal{N}=4$$ super Yang-Mills. We define a map we call T-duality from cells of $$Gr^{\geq 0}_{k+1,n}$$ to cells of $$Gr^{\geq 0}_{k,n}$$ and conjecture that it induces a bijection from positroid dissections of the hypersimplex $$\Delta _{k+1,n}$$ to positroid dissections of the amplituhedron $$\mathcal{A}_{n,k,2}$$; we prove this conjecture for the (infinite) class of BCFW dissections. We note that T-duality is particularly striking because the hypersimplex is an $(n-1)$-dimensional polytope while the amplituhedron $$\mathcal{A}_{n,k,2}$$ is a $2k$-dimensional non-polytopal subset of the Grassmannian $$Gr_{k,k+2}$$. Moreover, we prove that the positive tropical Grassmannian is the secondary fan for the regular positroid subdivisions of the hypersimplex, and prove that a matroid polytope is a positroid polytope if and only if all 2D faces are positroid polytopes. Finally, toward the goal of generalizing T-duality for higher $$m$$, we define the momentum amplituhedron for any even $$m$$.