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Ibañez, D., & Papavassiliou, J. (2013). Gluon mass generation in the massless bound-state formalism. Phys. Rev. D, 87(3), 034008–25pp.
Abstract: We present a detailed, all-order study of gluon mass generation within the massless bound-state formalism, which constitutes the general framework for the systematic implementation of the Schwinger mechanism in non-Abelian gauge theories. The main ingredient of this formalism is the dynamical formation of bound states with vanishing mass, which give rise to effective vertices containing massless poles; these latter vertices, in turn, trigger the Schwinger mechanism, and allow for the gauge-invariant generation of an effective gluon mass. This particular approach has the conceptual advantage of relating the gluon mass directly to quantities that are intrinsic to the bound-state formation itself, such as the “transition amplitude'' and the corresponding ”bound-state wave function.'' As a result, the dynamical evolution of the gluon mass is largely determined by a Bethe-Salpeter equation that controls the dynamics of the relevant wave function, rather than the Schwinger-Dyson equation of the gluon propagator, as happens in the standard treatment. The precise structure and field-theoretic properties of the transition amplitude are scrutinized in a variety of independent ways. In particular, a parallel study within the linear-covariant (Landau) gauge and the background-field method reveals that a powerful identity, known to be valid at the level of conventional Green's functions, also relates the background and quantum transition amplitudes. Despite the differences in the ingredients and terminology employed, the massless bound-state formalism is absolutely equivalent to the standard approach based on Schwinger-Dyson equations. In fact, a set of powerful relations allows one to demonstrate the exact coincidence of the integral equations governing the momentum evolution of the gluon mass in both frameworks.
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Binosi, D., Ibañez, D., & Papavassiliou, J. (2013). QCD effective charge from the three-gluon vertex of the background-field method. Phys. Rev. D, 87(12), 125026–10pp.
Abstract: In this article we study in detail the prospects of determining the infrared finite QCD effective charge from a special kinematic limit of the vertex function corresponding to three background gluons. This particular Green's function satisfies a QED-like Ward identity, relating it to the gluon propagator, with no reference to the ghost sector. Consequently, its longitudinal form factors may be expressed entirely in terms of the corresponding gluon wave function, whose inverse is proportional to the effective charge. After reviewing certain important theoretical properties, we consider a typical lattice quantity involving this vertex, and derive its exact dependence on the various form factors, for arbitrary momenta. We then focus on the particular momentum configuration that eliminates any dependence on the (unknown) transverse form factors, projecting out only the desired quantity. A preliminary numerical analysis indicates that the effective charge is relatively insensitive to the numerical uncertainties that may afflict future simulations of the aforementioned lattice quantity. The numerical difficulties associated with a parallel determination of the dynamical gluon mass are briefly discussed.
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Aguilar, A. C., Ibañez, D., & Papavassiliou, J. (2013). Ghost propagator and ghost-gluon vertex from Schwinger-Dyson equations. Phys. Rev. D, 87(11), 114020–14pp.
Abstract: We study an approximate version of the Schwinger-Dyson equation that controls the nonperturbative behavior of the ghost-gluon vertex in the Landau gauge. In particular, we focus on the form factor that enters in the dynamical equation for the ghost dressing function, in the same gauge, and derive its integral equation, in the “one-loop dressed” approximation. We consider two special kinematic configurations, which simplify the momentum dependence of the unknown quantity; in particular, we study the soft gluon case and the well-known Taylor limit. When coupled with the Schwinger-Dyson equation of the ghost dressing function, the contribution of this form factor provides considerable support to the relevant integral kernel. As a consequence, the solution of this coupled system of integral equations furnishes a ghost dressing function that reproduces the standard lattice results rather accurately, without the need to artificially increase the value of the gauge coupling.
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Aguilar, A. C., Binosi, D., & Papavassiliou, J. (2013). Gluon mass generation in the presence of dynamical quarks. Phys. Rev. D, 88(7), 074010–12pp.
Abstract: We study in detail the impact of dynamical quarks on the gluon mass generation mechanism, in the Landau gauge, for the case of a small number of quark families. As in earlier considerations, we assume that the main bulk of the unquenching corrections to the gluon propagator originates from the fully dressed quark-loop diagram. The nonperturbative evaluation of this diagram provides the key relation that expresses the unquenched gluon propagator as a deviation from its quenched counterpart. This relation is subsequently coupled to the integral equation that controls the momentum evolution of the effective gluon mass, which contains a single adjustable parameter; this constitutes a major improvement compared to the analysis presented in Aguilar et al. [Phys. Rev. D 86, 014032 (2012)], where the behavior of the gluon propagator in the deep infrared was estimated through numerical extrapolation. The resulting nonlinear system is then treated numerically, yielding unique solutions for the modified gluon mass and the quenched gluon propagator, which fully confirms the picture put forth recently in several continuum and lattice studies. In particular, an infrared finite gluon propagator emerges, whose saturation point is considerably suppressed, due to a corresponding increase in the value of the gluon mass. This characteristic feature becomes more pronounced as the number of active quark families increases, and can be deduced from the infrared structure of the kernel entering in the gluon mass equation.
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Aguilar, A. C., Binosi, D., Ibañez, D., & Papavassiliou, J. (2014). Effects of divergent ghost loops on the Green's functions of QCD. Phys. Rev. D, 89(8), 085008–26pp.
Abstract: In the present work, we discuss certain characteristic features encoded in some of the fundamental QCD Green's functions, for which the origin can be traced back to the nonperturbative masslessness of the ghost field, in the Landau gauge. Specifically, the ghost loops that contribute to these Green's functions display infrared divergences, akin to those encountered in the perturbative treatment, in contradistinction to the gluonic loops, for which perturbative divergences are tamed by the dynamical generation of an effective gluon mass. In d = 4, the aforementioned divergences are logarithmic, thus causing a relatively mild impact, whereas in d = 3 they are linear, giving rise to enhanced effects. In the case of the gluon propagator, these effects do not interfere with its finiteness, but make its first derivative diverge at the origin, and introduce a maximum in the region of infrared momenta. The three-gluon vertex is also affected, and the induced divergent behavior is clearly exposed in certain special kinematic configurations, usually considered in lattice simulations; the sign of the corresponding divergence is unambiguously determined. The main underlying concepts are developed in the context of a simple toy model, which demonstrates clearly the interconnected nature of the various effects. The picture that emerges is subsequently corroborated by a detailed nonperturbative analysis, combining lattice results with the dynamical integral equations governing the relevant ingredients, such as the nonperturbative ghost loop and the momentumdependent gluon mass.
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Aguilar, A. C., Binosi, D., & Papavassiliou, J. (2014). Renormalization group analysis of the gluon mass equation. Phys. Rev. D, 89(8), 085032–19pp.
Abstract: We carry out a systematic study of the renormalization properties of the integral equation that determines the momentum evolution of the effective gluon mass in pure Yang-Mills theory, without quark effects taken into account. A detailed, all-order analysis of the complete kernel appearing in this particular equation, derived in the Landau gauge, reveals that the renormalization procedure may be accomplished through the sole use of ingredients known from the standard perturbative treatment of the theory, with no additional assumptions. However, the subtle interplay of terms operating at the level of the exact equation gets distorted by the approximations usually employed when evaluating the aforementioned kernel. This fact is reflected in the form of the obtained solutions, for which the deviations from the correct behavior are best quantified by resorting to appropriately defined renormalization-group invariant quantities. This analysis, in turn, provides a solid guiding principle for improving the form of the kernel, and furnishes a well-defined criterion for discriminating between various possibilities. Certain renormalization-group inspired Ansatze for the kernel are then proposed, and their numerical implications are explored in detail. One of the solutions obtained fulfills the theoretical expectations to a high degree of accuracy, yielding a gluon mass that is positive definite throughout the entire range of physical momenta, and displays in the ultraviolet the so-called “power-law” running, in agreement with standard arguments based on the operator product expansion. Some of the technical difficulties thwarting a more rigorous determination of the kernel are discussed, and possible future directions are briefly mentioned.
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Aguilar, A. C., Binosi, D., Ibañez, D., & Papavassiliou, J. (2014). New method for determining the quark-gluon vertex. Phys. Rev. D, 90(6), 065027–26pp.
Abstract: We present a novel nonperturbative approach for calculating the form factors of the quark-gluon vertex in terms of an unknown three-point function, in the Landau gauge. The key ingredient of this method is the exact all-order relation connecting the conventional quark-gluon vertex with the corresponding vertex of the background field method, which is Abelian-like. When this latter relation is combined with the standard gauge technique, supplemented by a crucial set of transverse Ward identities, it allows the approximate determination of the nonperturbative behavior of all 12 form factors comprising the quark-gluon vertex, for arbitrary values of the momenta. The actual implementation of this procedure is carried out in the Landau gauge, in order to make contact with the results of lattice simulations performed in this particular gauge. The most demanding technical aspect involves the approximate calculation of the components of the aforementioned (fully dressed) three-point function, using lattice data as input for the gluon propagators appearing in its diagrammatic expansion. The numerical evaluation of the relevant form factors in three special kinematical configurations (soft-gluon and quark symmetric limit, zero quark momentum) is carried out in detail, finding qualitative agreement with the available lattice data. Most notably, a concrete mechanism is proposed for explaining the puzzling divergence of one of these form factors observed in lattice simulations.
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Binosi, D., Ibañez, D., & Papavassiliou, J. (2014). Nonperturbative study of the four gluon vertex. J. High Energy Phys., 09(9), 059–32pp.
Abstract: In this paper we study the nonperturbative structure of the SU(3) four-gluon vertex in the Landau gauge, concentrating on contributions quadratic in the metric. We employ an approximation scheme where “one-loop” diagrams are computed using fully dressed gluon and ghost propagators, and tree-level vertices. When a suitable kinematical configuration depending on a single momentum scale p is chosen, only two structures emerge: the tree-level four-gluon vertex, and a tensor orthogonal to it. A detailed numerical analysis reveals that the form factor associated with this latter tensor displays a change of sign (zero-crossing) in the deep infrared, and finally diverges logarithmically. The origin of this characteristic behavior is proven to be entirely due to the masslessness of the ghost propagators forming the corresponding ghost-loop diagram, in close analogy to a similar effect established for the three-gluon vertex. However, in the case at hand, and under the approximations employed, this particular divergence does not affect the form factor proportional to the tree-level tensor, which remains finite in the entire range of momenta, and deviates moderately from its naive tree-level value. It turns out that the kinematic configuration chosen is ideal for carrying out lattice simulations, because it eliminates from the connected Green's function all one-particle reducible contributions, projecting out the genuine one-particle irreducible vertex. Motivated by this possibility, we discuss in detail how a hypothetical lattice measurement of this quantity would compare to the results presented here, and the potential interference from an additional tensorial structure, allowed by Bose symmetry, but not encountered within our scheme.
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Binosi, D., Chang, L., Papavassiliou, J., & Roberts, C. D. (2015). Bridging a gap between continuum-QCD and ab initio predictions of hadron observables. Phys. Lett. B, 742, 183–188.
Abstract: Within contemporary hadron physics there are two common methods for determining the momentum-dependence of the interaction between quarks: the top-down approach, which works toward an ab initio computation of the interaction via direct analysis of the gauge-sector gap equations; and the bottom-up scheme, which aims to infer the interaction by fitting data within a well-defined truncation of those equations in the matter sector that are relevant to bound-state properties. We unite these two approaches by demonstrating that the renormalisation-group-invariant running-interaction predicted by contemporary analyses of QCD's gauge sector coincides with that required in order to describe ground-state hadron observables using a nonperturbative truncation of QCD's Dyson-Schwinger equations in the matter sector. This bridges a gap that had lain between nonperturbative continuum-QCD and the ab initioprediction of bound-state properties.
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Aguilar, A. C., Binosi, D., & Papavassiliou, J. (2015). Yang-Mills two-point functions in linear covariant gauges. Phys. Rev. D, 91(8), 085014–14pp.
Abstract: In this paper we use two different but complementary approaches in order to study the ghost propagator of a pure SU(3) Yang-Mills theory quantized in the linear covariant gauges, focusing on its dependence on the gauge-fixing parameter xi in the deep infrared. In particular, we first solve the Schwinger-Dyson equation that governs the dynamics of the ghost propagator, using a set of simplifying approximations, and under the crucial assumption that the gluon propagators for xi > 0 are infrared finite, as is the case in the Landau gauge (xi = 0). Then we appeal to the Nielsen identities, and express the derivative of the ghost propagator with respect to xi in terms of certain auxiliary Green's functions, which are subsequently computed under the same assumptions as before. Within both formalisms we find that for xi > 0 the ghost dressing function approaches zero in the deep infrared, in sharp contrast to what happens in the Landau gauge, where it is known to saturate at a finite (nonvanishing) value. The Nielsen identities are then extended to the case of the gluon propagator, and the xi-dependence of the corresponding gluon masses is derived using as input the results obtained in the previous steps. The result turns out to be logarithmically divergent in the deep infrared; the compatibility of this behavior with the basic assumption of a finite gluon propagator is discussed, and a specific Ansatz is put forth, which readily reconciles both features.
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