arXiv subjects

Markus Q. Huber

Publications and source records attributed to Markus Q. Huber.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Spectra of light and heavy mesons with $J \le 5$ in a relativistic Bethe-Salpeter approach

We extend the range of application of the relativistic Dyson-Schwinger/Bethe-Salpeter approach from previously discussed mesons with total angular momentum $J \le 3$ to the ones with $J=4,5$. On a technical level, the new element is the general Dirac tensor representations for the latter which, to our knowledge, are presented here for the first time. As a first application, we provide an exploratory spectrum for these mesons in a rainbow-ladder truncation of Dyson-Schwinger and Bethe-Salpeter equations. We discuss the merits and limitations of this truncation and explore the shape of the heavy-quark potential corresponding to the underlying effective running coupling. With our predictions for the masses of ground state mesons with quantum numbers $J^{PC}=3^{--}, 4^{++}, 5^{--}$ we identify Regge trajectories in channels where the interaction model can be trusted on a semi-quantitative level. In other channels, discrepancies with experiments confirm the well-known need to go beyond rainbow-ladder in the Dyson-Schwinger/Bethe-Salpeter approach by using more sophisticated interactions.

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arXiv2025

A beginner's guide to functional methods in particle physics

Functional methods like Dyson-Schwinger equations, the $n$PI effective action formalism, bound state equations and the functional renormalization group are versatile tools to study quantum field theories. They are exact, nonperturbative equations but have to be truncated for practical calculations. After a general introduction, I focus on their use in particle physics and discuss common truncations and solution techniques. The complete process from choosing a truncation to calculating observable quantities is exemplified by means of the glueball spectrum.

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arXiv2025

Apparent convergence in functional glueball calculations

We scrutinize the determination of glueball masses in pure Yang-Mills theory from functional equations, i.e. Dyson-Schwinger and Bethe-Salpeter equations. We survey the state-of-the-art input (dressed propagators and vertices) with an emphasis on the stability of the results under extensions of the employed truncations and explore the importance of different aspects of the bound state equations, focusing on the three lightest glueballs with $J^{PC} = 0^{++}$ , $0^{-+}$ and $2^{++}$ . As an important systematic extension compared to previous calculations we include two-loop diagrams in the Bethe-Salpeter kernels. In terms of the glueball spectrum we find only marginal mass shifts compared to previous results, indicating apparent convergence of the system. As a by-product, we also explore gauge invariance within a class of Landau-type gauges.

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arXiv2023

Glueballs from Dyson-Schwinger and Bethe-Salpeter equations

The quenched spectrum of glueballs with positive charge parity is calculated from two-body bound state equations. As input, a self-contained solution for the primitively divergent correlation functions from Dyson-Schwinger equations is used. It only has one parameter to be set which is the physical scale. An important feature of this setup is the consistent construction of the bound state kernels along the same lines as the equations from which the input was obtained. Keeping only the one-particle exchanges, already good agreement with lattice results is obtained. For the tensor glueball, we present first results including two-loop contributions, elevating its calculation to the same level of truncation as for the spin zero glueballs for which such calculations have been done previously.

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arXiv2023

The analytic structure of three-point functions from contour deformations

We explore the analytic structure of three-point functions using contour deformations. This method allows continuing calculations analytically from the spacelike to the timelike regime. We first elucidate the case of two-point functions with explicit explanations how to deform the integration contour and the cuts in the integrand to obtain the known cut structure of the integral. This is then applied to one-loop three-point integrals. We explicate individual conditions of the corresponding Landau analysis in terms of contour deformations. In particular, the emergence and position of singular points in the complex integration plane are relevant to determine the physical thresholds. As an exploratory demonstration of this method's numerical implementation we apply it to a coupled system of functional equations for the propagator and the three-point vertex of $ϕ^3$ theory. We demonstrate that under generic circumstances the three-point vertex function displays cuts which can be determined from modified Landau conditions.

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arXiv2023

How to determine the branch points of correlation functions in Euclidean space II: Three-point functions

The analytic structure of elementary correlation functions of a quantum field is relevant for the calculation of masses of bound states and their time-like properties in general. In quantum chromodynamics, the calculation of correlation functions for purely space-like momenta has reached a high level of sophistication, but the calculation at time-like momenta requires refined methods. One of them is the contour deformation method. Here we describe how to employ it for three-point functions. The basic mechanisms are discussed for a scalar theory, but they are the same for more complicated theories and are thus relevant, e.g., for the three-gluon or quark-gluon vertices of quantum chromodynamics. Their inclusion in existing truncation schemes is a crucial step for investigating the analytic structure of elementary correlation functions of quantum chromodynamics and the calculation of its spectrum from them.

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arXiv2022

Glueballs from bound state equations

Glueballs are bound states in the spectrum of quantum chromodynamics which consist only of gluons. They belong to the group of exotic hadrons which are widely studied experimentally and theoretically. We summarize how to calculate glueballs in a functional framework and discuss results for pure Yang-Mills theory. Our setup is totally self-contained with the scale being the only external input. We enumerate a range of tests that provide evidence of the stability of the results. This illustrates the potential of functional equations as a continuum first-principles method complementary to lattice calculations.

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arXiv2022

Quenched glueballs in the DSE/BSE framework

The spectrum of glueballs with quantum numbers $J^\mathsf{PC}=0^{\pm+},2^{\pm+},3^{\pm+},4^{\pm+}$ is calculated in quenched quantum chromodynamics from bound state equations. The input is taken from a parameter-free calculation of two- and three-point functions. Our results agree well with lattice results where available and contain also some additional states. For the scalar glueball, we present first results for the effects of additional diagrams which turn out to be strongly suppressed.

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arXiv2022

Higher spin glueballs from functional methods

We calculate the glueball spectrum for spin up to J=4 and positive charge parity in pure Yang-Mills theory. We construct the full bases for J=0,1,2,3,4 and discuss the relation to gauge invariant operators. Using a fully self-contained truncation of Dyson-Schwinger equations as input, we obtain ground states and first and second excited states from extrapolations of the eigenvalue curves. Where available, we find good quantitative agreement with lattice results.

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arXiv2021

Quenched glueball spectrum from functional equations

We give an overview of results for the quenched glueball spectrum from two-body bound state equations based on the 3PI effective action. The setup, which uses self-consistently calculated two- and three-point functions as input, is completely self-contained and does not have any free parameters except for the coupling. The results for $J^{\mathsf{PC}}=0^{\pm+},2^{\pm+},3^{\pm+},4^{\pm+}$ are in good agreement with recent lattice results where available. For the pseudoscalar glueball, we present first results from a two-loop complete calculation, rendering also the bound state calculation fully self-consistent.

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arXiv2021

Yang-Mills propagators in linear covariant gauges from Nielsen identities

We calculate gluon and ghost propagators in Yang-Mills theory in linear covariant gauges. To that end, we utilize Nielsen identities with Landau gauge propagators and vertices as the starting point. We present and discuss numerical results for the gluon and ghost propagators for values of the gauge parameter $0<ξ\le 5$. Extrapolating the propagators to $ξ\to \infty $ we find the expected qualitative behavior. We provide arguments that our results are quantitatively reliable at least for values $ξ\lesssim 1/2$ of the gauge fixing parameter. It is shown that the correlation functions, and in particular the ghost propagator, change significantly with increasing gauge parameter. In turn, the ghost-gluon running coupling as well as the position of the zero crossing of the Schwinger function of the gluon propagator remain within the uncertainties of our calculation unchanged.

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arXiv2020

Spectrum of scalar and pseudoscalar glueballs from functional methods

We provide results for the spectrum of scalar and pseudoscalar glueballs in pure Yang-Mills theory using a parameter-free fully self-contained truncation of Dyson-Schwinger and Bethe-Salpeter equations. The only input, the scale, is fixed by comparison with lattice calculations. We obtain ground state masses of $1.9\,\text{GeV}$ and $2.6\,\text{GeV}$ for the scalar and pseudoscalar glueballs, respectively, and $2.6\,\text{GeV}$ and $3.9\,\text{GeV}$ for the corresponding first excited states. This is in very good quantitative agreement with available lattice results. Furthermore, we predict masses for the second excited states at $3.7\,\text{GeV}$ and $4.3\,\text{GeV}$. The quality of the results hinges crucially on the self-consistency of the employed input. The masses are independent of a specific choice for the infrared behavior of the ghost propagator providing further evidence that this only reflects a nonperturbative gauge completion.

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arXiv2020

Landau gauge Yang-Mills propagators in the complex momentum plane

We calculate the dressed gluon and ghost propagators of Landau gauge Yang-Mills theory in the complex momentum plane from their Dyson-Schwinger equations. To this end, we develop techniques for a direct calculation such that no mathematically ill-posed inverse problem needs to be solved. We provide a detailed account of the employed ray technique and discuss a range of tools to monitor the stability of the numerical calculation. Within a truncation employing model ansaetze for the three-point vertices and neglecting effects due to four-point functions, we find a singularity in the gluon propagator in the second quadrant of the complex $p^2$-plane. Although the location of this singularity turns out to be strongly dependent on the model for the three-gluon vertex, it occurs always at complex momenta for the range of models considered.

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arXiv2020

Correlation functions of Landau gauge Yang-Mills theory

Correlation functions of Yang-Mills theory in the Landau gauge are calculated from their equations of motion. The employed setup is completely parameter free and leads, within errors, to good quantitative agreement with corresponding lattice results for the ghost and gluon propagators as well as the ghost-gluon and three-gluon vertices. Also the four-gluon vertex is calculated. The present setup allows for the first time for a unique subtraction of quadratic divergences in the gluon propagator Dyson-Schwinger equation. Thus, there are no ambiguities which can arise due to the use of models or auxiliary workarounds. In addition, several self-tests of the results are described that allow assessing the truncation error in a self-consistent way. This enables a new perspective on how to identify limitations of the present setup and develop future improvements.

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arXiv2020

Nonperturbative properties of Yang-Mills theories

Yang-Mills theories are an important building block of the standard model and in particular of quantum chromodynamics. Its correlation functions describe the behavior of its elementary particles, the gauge bosons. In quantum chromodynamics, the correlation functions of the gluons are basic ingredients for calculations of hadrons from bound state equations or properties of its phase diagram with functional methods. Correlation functions of gluons are defined only in a gauge fixed setting. The focus of many studies is the Landau gauge which has some features that alleviate calculations. I discuss recent results of correlation functions in this gauge obtained from their equations of motions. Besides the four-dimensional case also two and three dimensions are treated, since the effects of truncations, viz., the procedure to render the infinitely large system of equations finite, can be studied more directly in these cases. In four dimensions, the anomalous running of dressing functions plays a special role and it is explained how resummation is realized in the case of Dyson-Schwinger equations. Beyond the Landau gauge other gauges can provide additional insights or can alleviate the development of new methods. Some aspects or ideas are more easily accessible in alternative gauges and the results presented here for linear covariant gauges, the Coulomb gauge and the maximally Abelian gauge help to refine our understanding of Yang-Mills theories.

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arXiv2020

DoFun 3.0: Functional equations in Mathematica

We present version 3.0 of the Mathematica package DoFun for the derivation of functional equations. In this version, the derivation of equations for correlation functions of composite operators was added. In the update, the general workflow was slightly modified taking into account experience with the previous version. In addition, various tools were included to improve the usage experience and the code was partially restructured for easier maintenance.

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arXiv2020

Dense two-color QCD from Dyson-Schwinger equations

We investigate quantum chromodynamics with two colors at nonvanishing density using Dyson-Schwinger equations. Lattice methods do not have a complex action problem in this theory. Thus, we can benchmark our results and the effect of truncations directly by comparing with the corresponding lattice results. We do so for the gluon propagator, the chiral condensate, and the quark number density and test variations of the employed truncation to improve the agreement. Finally, we compare the effect of a truncation on the chiral and confinement/deconfinement transitions in the phase diagrams of QCD and QCD with the gauge groups $SU(2)$ and $G_2$.

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arXiv2019

Spectral dimension as a tool for analyzing non-perturbative propagators

We derive general properties of the scale-dependent effective spectral dimensions of non-perturbative gauge boson propagators as they appear as solutions from different methods in Yang-Mills theories. In the ultraviolet and for short time scales the anomalous dimensions of the propagators lead to a slight decrease of the spectral dimension as compared to the one of a free propagator. Lowering the momentum scale, the spectral dimension decreases further. The class of propagators which display a maximum at Euclidean momenta, and thus violate positivity, always approaches a spectral dimension of one for large times. We also show that the longest time intervals are not related to the deep infrared but to the momentum scale defined by the position of the maximum.

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