2022/01/24 by Jan Horák, Friederike Ihssen, Horak, Jan +9
Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph) #High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th) #High-Energy Particle Collisions Research #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #Quantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2201.09747
openalex publication_date 2022/01/24 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Lattice simulations along with studies in continuum QCD indicate that non-perturbative quantum fluctuations lead to an infrared regularisation of the gluon propagator in covariant gauges in the form of an effective mass-like behaviour. In the present work we propose an analytic understanding of this phenomenon in terms of gluon condensation through a dynamical version of the Higgs mechanism, leading to the emergence of color condensates. Within the functional renormalisation group approach we compute the effective potential of covariantly constant field strengths, whose non-trivial minimum is related to the color condensates. In the physical case of an SU(3) gauge group this is an octet condensate. The value of the gluon mass obtained through this procedure compares very well to lattice results and the mass gap arising from alternative dynamical scenarios.