Physics

Spacetime

Pure mathematics

Twistor theory

Mathematics

Equivariant cohomology

Cohomology

Euclidean geometry

Algebra over a field

Twistor space

Geometry

Quantum mechanics

Scalar (mathematics)

De Rham cohomology

Čech cohomology

Journal of High Energy Physics

The classical double copy relating exact solutions of biadjoint scalar, gauge and gravity theories continues to receive widespread attention. Recently, a derivation of the exact classical double copy was presented, using ideas from twistor theory, in which spacetime fields are mapped to Cech cohomology classes in twistor space. A puzzle remains, however, in how to interpret the twistor double copy, in that it relies on somehow picking special representatives of each cohomology class. In this paper, we provide two alternative formulations of the twistor double copy using the more widely-used language of Dolbeault cohomology. The first amounts to a rewriting of the Cech approach, whereas the second uses known techniques for discussing spacetime fields in Euclidean signature. The latter approach indeed allows us to identify special cohomology representatives, suggesting that further application of twistor methods in exploring the remit of the double copy may be fruitful.

Alternative formulations of the twistor double copy