Feynman amplitudes and limits of heights

We investigate from a mathematical perspective how Feynman amplitudes appear in the low-energy limit of string amplitudes. In this paper, we prove the convergence of the integrands. We derive this from results describing the asymptotic behaviour of the height pairing between degree-zero divisors, as a family of curves degenerates. These are obtained by means of the nilpotent orbit theorem in Hodge theory.