Speaker: Mauricio N. Ferreira (University of Valencia)

Title: Gluon mass generation through the Schwinger mechanism in QCD

Zoom link: https://iastate.zoom.us/j/95996196682?pwd=UU1ERldGTnV6cW96aXNySHVCbVEzUT09

Abstract: 

Although gluons are massless at the level of the QCD Lagrangian, they can acquire a mass through nonperturbative effects. Indeed, lattice simulations have provided strong evidence that the gluons display such a dynamically generated mass. The Schwinger mechanism, namely the dynamical formation of massless longitudinal poles in the theory's vertices, provides an elegant framework to explain gluon mass generation. In this talk, I will review the fundamental aspects of the Schwinger mechanism in QCD and discuss recent evidence for its occurrence. In particular, I will discuss how the Schwinger mechanism affects the Slavnov-Taylor identities of QCD, showing that the presence of massless longitudinal poles leads to distinctive predictions for certain lattice observables. These predictions can then be tested using state-of-the-art gauge fixed lattice simulations. Our analysis reveals a striking agreement between the lattice results for the propagators and vertices of QCD and the predictions based on the Schwinger mechanism.