Abstract: The implementation of the Schwinger mechanism endows gluons with a nonperturbative mass through the formation of special massless poles in the fundamental QCD vertices; due to their longitudinal character, these poles do not cause divergences in on-shell amplitudes, but induce detectable effects in the Green's functions of the theory. Particularly important in this theoretical setup is the three-gluon vertex, whose pole content extends beyond the minimal structure required for the generation of a gluon mass. In the present work we analyze these additional pole patterns by means of two distinct, but ultimately equivalent, methods: the Slavnov-Taylor identity satisfied by the three-gluon vertex, and the nonlinear Schwinger-Dyson equation that governs the dynamical evolution of this vertex. Our analysis reveals that the Slavnov-Taylor identity imposes strict model-independent constraints on the associated residues, preventing them from vanishing. Approximate versions of these constraints are subsequently recovered from the Schwinger-Dyson equation, once the elements responsible for the activation of the Schwinger mechanism have been duly incorporated. The excellent coincidence between the two approaches exposes a profound connection between symmetry and dynamics, and serves as a nontrivial self-consistency test of this particular mass generating scenario.

Abstract: We present a novel method for computing the nonperturbative kinetic term of the gluon propagator from an ordinary differential equation, whose derivation hinges on the central hypothesis that the regular part of the three-gluon vertex and the aforementioned kinetic term are related by a partial Slavnov-Taylor identity. The main ingredients entering in the solution are projection of the three-gluon vertex and a particular derivative of the ghost-gluon kernel, whose approximate form is derived from a Schwinger-Dyson equation. Crucially, the requirement of a pole-free answer determines the initial condition, whose value is calculated from an integral containing the same ingredients as the solution itself. This feature fixes uniquely, at least in principle, the form of the kinetic term, once the ingredients have been accurately evaluated. In practice, however, due to substantial uncertainties in the computation of the necessary inputs, certain crucial components need be adjusted by hand, in order to obtain self-consistent results. Furthermore, if the gluon propagator has been independently accessed from the lattice, the solution for the kinetic term facilitates the extraction of the momentum-dependent effective gluon mass. The practical implementation of this method is carried out in detail, and the required approximations and theoretical assumptions are duly highlighted.

Abstract: To date, the four-gluon vertex is the least explored component of the QCD Lagrangian, mainly due to the vast proliferation of Lorentz and color structures required for its description. In this work we present a nonperturbative study of this vertex, based on the one-loop dressed Schwinger-Dyson equation obtained from the 4PI effective action. A vast simplification is brought about by resorting to “collinear” kinematics, where all momenta are parallel to each other, and by appealing to the charge conjugation symmetry in order to eliminate certain color structures. Out of the fifteen form factors that comprise the transversely-projected version of this vertex, two are singled out and studied in detail; the one associated with the classical tensorial structure is moderately suppressed in the infrared regime, while the other diverges logarithmically at the origin. Quite interestingly, both form factors display the property known as “planar degeneracy” at a rather high level of accuracy. With these results we construct an effective charge that quantifies the strength of the four-gluon interaction, and compare it with other vertex-derived charges from the gauge sector of QCD.

Abstract: We demonstrate that the eight multipole parameters describing the spin state of the Z boson are able to disentangle known Z production mechanisms and signals from new physics at the LHC. They can be extracted from appropriate asymmetries in the angular distribution of lepton pairs from the Z boson decay. The power of this analysis is illustrated by (1) the production of Z boson plus jets; (2) Z boson plus missing transverse energy; (3) W and Z bosons originating from the two-body decay of a heavy resonance.

Abstract: The Protvino accelerator facility located in the Moscow region, Russia, is in a good position to offer a rich experimental research program in the field of neutrino physics. Of particular interest is the possibility to direct a neutrino beam from Protvino towards the KM3NeT/ORCA detector, which is currently under construction in the Mediterranean Sea 40 km offshore Toulon, France. This proposal is known as P2O. Thanks to its baseline of 2595 km, this experiment would yield an unparalleled sensitivity to matter effects in the Earth, allowing for the determination of the neutrino mass ordering with a high level of certainty after only a few years of running at a modest beam intensity of sensitivity to the leptonic CP-violating Dirac phase can be achieved. A second stage of the experiment, comprising a further intensity upgrade of the accelerator complex and a densified version of the ORCA detector (Super-ORCA), would allow for up to a 6 sigma\documentclass[12pt] resolution on the CP phase after 10 years of running with a 450 kW beam, competitive with other planned experiments. The initial composition and energy spectrum of the neutrino beam would need to be monitored by a near detector, to be constructed several hundred meters downstream from the proton beam target. The same neutrino beam and near detector set-up would also allow for neutrino-nucleus cross section measurements to be performed. A short-baseline sterile neutrino search experiment would also be possible.