Britto-Cachazo-Feng-Witten Recursion

Abstract

This thesis provides a thorough introduction to BCFW recursion. These recursion relations were first introduced by Britto, Cachazo and Feng for tree-amplitudes of gluons in Yang-Mills theory. After discussing the recursion for gluons we have a look at extensions of the BCFW methods. In particular, we discuss how BCFW can be used for quantum field theories other than Yang-Mills theory. Since the discovery seven years ago, there have already been numerous different applications of BCFW recursion. Some of these applications will be discussed. We conclude with an overview of the various applications and developments.