arXiv subjects

A. C. Aguilar

Publications and source records attributed to A. C. Aguilar.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Pseudoscalar glueball mass: a window on three-gluon interactions

In pure-glue QCD, gluon-gluon scattering in the $J^{PC}=0^{-+}$ channel is described by a very simple equation, especially if one considers just the leading contribution to the scattering kernel. Of all components in this kernel, only the three-gluon vertex, $V_{μνρ}$, is poorly constrained by contemporary analyses; hence, calculations of $0^{-+}$ glueball properties serve as a clear window onto the character and form of $V_{μνρ}$. This is important given that many modern calculations of $V_{μνρ}$ predict the appearance of an infrared suppression in the scalar function which comes to modulate the bare vertex after the nonperturbative resummation of interactions. Such behaviour is a peculiar prediction; but we find that such suppression is essential if one is to achieve agreement with lattice-QCD predictions for the $0^{-+}$ glueball mass. It is likely, therefore, that this novel feature of $V_{μνρ}$ is real and has observable implications for the spectrum, decays and interactions of all QCD bound-states.

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arXiv2019

Gluon mass scale through nonlinearities and vertex interplay

We present a novel analysis of the gluon gap equation, where its full nonlinear structure is duly taken into account. In particular, while in previous treatments the linearization of this homogeneous integral equation introduced an indeterminacy in the scale of the corresponding mass, the current approach determines it uniquely, once the value of the gauge coupling at a given renormalization point is used as input. A crucial ingredient for this construction is the "kinetic term" of the gluon propagator, whose form is not obtained from the complicated equation governing its evolution, but is rather approximated by suitable initial {\it Ansätze}, which are subsequently improved by means of a systematic iterative procedure. The multiplicative renormalization of the central equation is carried out following an approximate method, which is extensively employed in the studies of the standard quark gap equation. This approach amounts to the effective substitution of the vertex renormalization constants by kinematically simplified form factors of the three- and four-gluon vertices. The resulting numerical interplay, exemplified by the infrared suppression of the three-gluon vertex and the mild enhancement of the four-gluon vertex, is instrumental for obtaining positive-definite and monotonically decreasing running gluon masses. The resulting gluon propagators, put together from the gluon masses and kinetic terms obtained with this method, match rather accurately the data obtained from large-volume lattice simulations.

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arXiv2019

Nonperturbative structure of the ghost-gluon kernel

The ghost-gluon scattering kernel is a special correlation function that is intimately connected with two fundamental vertices of the gauge sector of QCD: the ghost-gluon vertex, which may be obtained from it through suitable contraction, and the three-gluon vertex, whose Slavnov-Taylor identity contains that kernel as one of its main ingredients. In this work we present a detailed nonperturbative study of the five form factors comprising it, using as starting point the `one-loop dressed' approximation of the dynamical equations governing their evolution. The analysis is carried out for arbitrary Euclidean momenta, and makes extensive use of the gluon propagator and the ghost dressing function, whose infrared behavior has been firmly established from a multitude of continuum studies and large-volume lattice simulations. In addition, special Ansätze are employed for the vertices entering in the relevant equations, and their impact on the results is scrutinized in detail. Quite interestingly, the veracity of the approximations employed may be quantitatively tested by appealing to an exact relation, which fixes the value of a special combination of the form factors under construction. The results obtained furnish the two form factors of the ghost-gluon vertex for arbitrary momenta, and, more importantly, pave the way towards the nonperturbative generalization of the Ball-Chiu construction for the longitudinal part of the three-gluon vertex.

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arXiv2019

Nonperturbative Ball-Chiu construction of the three-gluon vertex

We present the detailed derivation of the longitudinal part of the three-gluon vertex from the Slavnov-Taylor identities that it satisfies, by means of a nonperturbative implementation of the Ball-Chiu construction; the latter, in its original form, involves the inverse gluon propagator, the ghost dressing function, and certain form factors of the ghost-gluon kernel. The main conceptual subtlety that renders this endeavor nontrivial is the infrared finiteness of the gluon propagator, and the resulting need to separate the vertex into two pieces, one that is intimately connected with the emergence of a gluonic mass scale, and one that satisfies the original set of Slavnov-Taylor identities, but with the inverse gluon propagator replaced by its "kinetic" term. The longitudinal form factors obtained by this construction are presented for arbitrary Euclidean momenta, as well as special kinematic configurations, parametrized by a single momentum. A particularly preeminent feature of the components comprising the tree-level vertex is their considerable suppression for momenta below 1 GeV, and the appearance of the characteristic "zero-crossing" in the vicinity of 100-200 MeV. Special combinations of the form factors derived with this method are compared with the results of recent large-volume lattice simulations as well as Schwinger-Dyson equations, and good overall agreement is found. A variety of issues related to the distribution of the pole terms responsible for the gluon mass generation are discussed in detail, and their impact on the structure of the transverse parts is elucidated. In addition, a brief account of several theoretical and phenomenological possibilities involving these newly acquired results is presented.

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arXiv2018

Quark mass generation with Schwinger-Dyson equations

In this talk, we review some of the current efforts to understand the phenomenon of chiral symmetry breaking and the generation of a dynamical quark mass. To do that, we will use the standard framework of the Schwinger-Dyson equations. The key ingredient in this analysis is the quark-gluon vertex, whose non-transverse part may be determined exactly from the nonlinear Slavnov-Taylor identity that it satisfies. The resulting expressions for the form factors of this vertex involve not only the quark propagator, but also the ghost dressing function and the quark-ghost kernel. Solving the coupled system of integral equations formed by the quark propagator and the four form factors of the scattering kernel, we carry out a detailed study of the impact of the quark gluon vertex on the gap equation and the quark masses generated from it, putting particular emphasis on the contributions directly related with the ghost sector of the theory, and especially the quark-ghost kernel. Particular attention is dedicated on the way that the correct renormalization group behavior of the dynamical quark mass is recovered, and in the extraction of the phenomenological parameters such as the pion decay constant.

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arXiv2018

Quark gap equation with non-abelian Ball-Chiu vertex

The full quark-gluon vertex is a crucial ingredient for the dynamical generation of a constituent quark mass from the standard quark gap equation, and its non-transverse part may be determined exactly from the nonlinear Slavnov-Taylor identity that it satisfies. The resulting expression involves not only the quark propagator, but also the ghost dressing function and the quark-ghost kernel, and constitutes the non-abelian extension of the so-called "Ball-Chiu vertex", known from QED. In the present work we carry out a detailed study of the impact of this vertex on the gap equation and the quark masses generated from it, putting particular emphasis on the contributions directly related with the ghost sector of the theory, and especially the quark-ghost kernel. In particular, we set up and solve the coupled system of six equations that determine the four form factors of the latter kernel and the two typical Dirac structures composing the quark propagator. Due to the incomplete implementation of the multiplicative renormalizability at the level of the gap equation, the correct anomalous dimension of the quark mass is recovered through the inclusion of a certain function, whose ultraviolet behavior is fixed, but its infrared completion is unknown; three particular Ansätze for this function are considered, and their effect on the quark mass and the pion decay constant is explored. The main results of this study indicate that the numerical impact of the quark-ghost kernel is considerable; the transition from a tree-level kernel to the one computed here leads to a $20\%$ increase in the value of the quark mass at the origin. Particularly interesting is the contribution of the fourth Ball-Chiu form factor, which, contrary to the abelian case, is nonvanishing, and accounts for $10\%$ of the total constituent quark mass.

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arXiv2018

Perturbative corrections to technicolor

The full solution of technicolor (TC) Schwinger-Dyson equations should include radiative corrections induced by extended technicolor (ETC) (or other) interactions. We verify that when TC is embedded into a larger theory including also QCD, these radiative corrections couple the different strongly interacting Schwinger-Dyson equations, providing a tiny mass to technifermions and changing the ultraviolet behavior of the gap equation solution. We argue about the origin of the different quark masses without appealing for different ETC boson masses, in one scenario where most of the new physics will appear in interactions with the third fermion generation and with a TC scalar boson possibly lighter than the TC characteristic scale ($Λ_{\tt{TC}}$)

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arXiv2018

Effects of the ghost sector in gluon mass dynamics

In this work, we investigate the effects of the ghost sector on the dynamical mass generation for the gauge boson of a pure Yang-Mills theory. The generation of a dynamical mass for the gluon is realized by the Schwinger mechanism, which is triggered by the existence of longitudinally coupled massless poles in the fundamental vertices of the theory. The appearance of such poles occurs by purely dynamical reasons and is governed by a set of Bethe-Salpeter equations. In previous studies, only the presence of massless poles in the background-gauge three-gluon vertex was considered. Here, we include the possibility for such poles to appear also in the corresponding ghost-gluon vertex. Then, we solve the resulting Bethe-Salpeter system, which reveals that the contribution associated with the poles of the ghost-gluon vertex is suppressed with respect to those originating from the three-gluon vertex.

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arXiv2018

Non-Abelian Ball-Chiu vertex for arbitrary Euclidean momenta

We determine the non-Abelian version of the four longitudinal form factors of the quark-gluon vertex, using exact expressions derived from the Slavnov-Taylor identity that this vertex satisfies. In addition to the quark and ghost propagators, a key ingredient of the present approach is the quark-ghost scattering kernel, which is computed within the one-loop dressed approximation. The vertex form factors obtained from this procedure are evaluated for arbitrary Euclidean momenta, and display features not captured by the well-known Ball-Chiu vertex, deduced from the Abelian (ghost-free) Ward identity. The potential phenomenological impact of these results is evaluated through the study of special renormalization-point-independent combinations, which quantify the strength of the interaction kernels appearing in the standard quark gap and Bethe-Salpeter equations.

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arXiv2017

Evidence of ghost suppression in gluon mass dynamics

In this work we study the impact that the ghost sector of pure Yang-Mills theories may have on the generation of a dynamical gauge boson mass, which hinges on the appearance of massless poles in the fundamental vertices of the theory, and the subsequent realization of the well-known Schwinger mechanism. The process responsible for the formation of such structures is itself dynamical in nature, and is governed by a set of Bethe-Salpeter type of integral equations. While in previous studies the presence of massless poles was assumed to be exclusively associated with the background-gauge three-gluon vertex, in the present analysis we allow them to appear also in the corresponding ghost-gluon vertex. The full analysis of the resulting Bethe-Salpeter system reveals that the contribution of the poles associated with the ghost-gluon vertex are particularly suppressed, their sole discernible effect being a slight modification in the running of the gluon mass, for momenta larger than a few GeV. In addition, we examine the behavior of the (background-gauge) ghost-gluon vertex in the limit of vanishing ghost momentum, and derive the corresponding version of Taylor's theorem. These considerations, together with a suitable Ansatz, permit us the full reconstruction of the pole sector of the two vertices involved.

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arXiv2017

Unified description of seagull cancellations and infrared finiteness of gluon propagators

We present a generalized theoretical framework for dealing with the important issue of dynamical mass generation in Yang-Mills theories, and, in particular, with the infrared finiteness of the gluon propagators, observed in a multitude of recent lattice simulations. Our analysis is manifestly gauge-invariant, in the sense that it preserves the transversality of the gluon self-energy, and gauge-independent, given that the conclusions do not depend on the choice of the gauge-fixing parameter within the linear covariant gauges. The central construction relies crucially on the subtle interplay between the Abelian Ward identities satisfied by the nonperturbative vertices and a special integral identity that enforces a vast number of 'seagull cancellations' among the one- and two-loop dressed diagrams of the gluon Schwinger-Dyson equation. The key result of these considerations is that the gluon propagator remains rigorously massless, provided that the vertices do not contain (dynamical) massless poles. When such poles are incorporated into the vertices, under the pivotal requirement of respecting the gauge symmetry of the theory, the terms comprising the Ward identities conspire in such a way as to still enforce the total annihilation of all quadratic divergences, inducing, at the same time, residual contributions that account for the saturation of gluon propagators in the deep infrared.

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arXiv2017

Schwinger mechanism in linear covariant gauges

In this work we explore the applicability of a special gluon mass generating mechanism in the context of the linear covariant gauges. In particular, the implementation of the Schwinger mechanism in pure Yang-Mills theories hinges crucially on the inclusion of massless bound-state excitations in the fundamental nonperturbative vertices of the theory. The dynamical formation of such excitations is controlled by a homogeneous linear Bethe-Salpeter equation, whose nontrivial solutions have been studied only in the Landau gauge. Here, the form of this integral equation is derived for general values of the gauge-fixing parameter, under a number of simplifying assumptions that reduce the degree of technical complexity. The kernel of this equation consists of fully-dressed gluon propagators, for which recent lattice data are used as input, and of three-gluon vertices dressed by a single form factor, which is modelled by means of certain physically motivated Ansätze. The gauge-dependent terms contributing to this kernel impose considerable restrictions on the infrared behavior of the vertex form factor; specifically, only infrared finite Ansätze are compatible with the existence of nontrivial solutions. When such Ansätze are employed, the numerical study of the integral equation reveals a continuity in the type of solutions as one varies the gauge-fixing parameter, indicating a smooth departure from the Landau gauge. Instead, the logarithmically divergent form factor displaying the characteristic "zero crossing", while perfectly consistent in the Landau gauge, has to undergo a dramatic qualitative transformation away from it, in order to yield acceptable solutions. The possible implications of these results are briefly discussed.

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arXiv2016

Mass generation and the problem of seagull divergences

The gluon mass generation is a purely non-perturbative effect, and the natural framework to study it in the continuum are the Schwinger-Dyson equations (SDEs) of the theory. At the level of the SDEs the generation of such a mass is associated with the existence of infrared finite solutions for the gluon propagator. From the theoretical point of view, the dynamical gluon mass generation has been traditionally plagued with seagull divergences. In this work, we will review how such divergences can be eliminated completely by virtue of a characteristic identity, valid in dimensional regularization. As a pedagogical example, we will first discuss in the context of scalar QED how it is possible to eliminate all seagull divergences, by triggering the aforementioned special identity, which enforces the masslessness of the photon. Then, we will discuss what happens in QCD and present an Ansatz for the three gluon vertex, which completely eliminates all seagull divergences and at same time allows for the possibility of a dynamical gluon mass generation.

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arXiv2015

The gluon mass generation mechanism: a concise primer

We present a pedagogical overview of the nonperturbative mechanism that endows gluons with a dynamical mass. This analysis is performed based on pure Yang-Mills theories in the Landau gauge, within the theoretical framework that emerges from the combination of the pinch technique with the background field method. In particular, we concentrate on the Schwinger-Dyson equation satisfied by the gluon propagator and examine the necessary conditions for obtaining finite solutions within the infrared region. The role of seagull diagrams receives particular attention, as do the identities that enforce the cancellation of all potential quadratic divergences. We stress the necessity of introducing nonperturbative massless poles in the fully dressed vertices of the theory in order to trigger the Schwinger mechanism, and explain in detail the instrumental role of these poles in maintaining the Becchi-Rouet-Stora-Tyutin symmetry at every step of the mass-generating procedure. The dynamical equation governing the evolution of the gluon mass is derived, and its solutions are determined numerically following implementation of a set of simplifying assumptions. The obtained mass function is positive definite, and exhibits a power law running that is consistent with general arguments based on the operator product expansion in the ultraviolet region. A possible connection between confinement and the presence of an inflection point in the gluon propagator is briefly discussed.

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arXiv2015

A new method for determining the quark-gluon vertex

We present a novel nonperturbative approach for calculating the form factors of the quark-gluon vertex, in a general covariant 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 twelve 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 calculation of certain (fully-dressed) auxiliary three-point functions, using lattice data as input for the gluon propagators appearing in their 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 rather good 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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arXiv2015

A new method for computing the quark-gluon vertex

In this talk we present a new method for determining the nonperturbative quark-gluon vertex, which constitutes a crucial ingredient for a variety of theoretical and phenomenological studies. This new method relies heavily on the exact all-order relation connecting the conventional quark-gluon vertex with the corresponding vertex of the background field method, which is Abelian-like. The longitudinal part of this latter quantity is fixed using the standard gauge technique, whereas the transverse is estimated with the help of the so-called transverse Ward identities. This method allows the approximate determination of the nonperturbative behavior of all twelve form factors comprising the quark-gluon vertex, for arbitrary values of the momenta. Numerical results are presented for the form factors in three special kinematical configurations (soft gluon and quark symmetric limit, zero quark momentum), and compared with the corresponding lattice data.

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arXiv2015

Yang-Mills two-point functions in linear covariant gauges

In this work 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 $ξ$ 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 $ξ>0$ are infrared finite, as is the case in the Landau gauge $(ξ=0)$. Then we appeal to the Nielsen identities, and express the derivative of the ghost propagator with respect to $ξ$ 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 $ξ>0$ the ghost dressing function approaches zero in the deep infrared, in sharp contrast to what happens in the Landau gauge, where it known to saturate at a finite (non-vanishing) value. The Nielsen identities are then extended to the case of the gluon propagator, and the $ξ$-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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arXiv2014

The impact of the ghost-gluon vertex on the ghost Schwinger-Dyson equations

We derive an approximate dynamical equation for the form-factor of the ghost-gluon vertex that contributes to the Schwinger-Dyson equation of the ghost dressing function in the Landau gauge. In particular, we consider the "one-loop dressed" approximation of the corresponding equation governing the evolution of the ghost-gluon vertex, using fully dressed propagators and tree-level vertices in the relevant diagrams. Within this approximation, we then compute the aforementioned form factor for two special kinematic configurations, namely the soft gluon limit, in which the momentum carried by the gluon leg is zero, and the soft ghost limit, where the momentum of the anti-ghost leg vanishes. The results obtained display a considerable departure from the tree-level value, and are in rather good agreement with available lattice data. We next solve numerically the coupled system formed by the equation of the ghost dressing function and that of the the vertex form factor, in the soft ghost limit. Our results demonstrate clearly that the nonperturbative contribution from the ghost-gluon vertex accounts for the missing strength in the kernel of the ghost equation, and allows for an impressive coincidence with the lattice results, without the need to artificially enhance the coupling constant of the theory.

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