A first look at Landau-gauge propagators in G2 Yang-Mills theory

TL;DR

This study investigates Landau-gauge ghost and gluon propagators in G2 Yang-Mills theory through lattice simulations, revealing qualitative similarities with SU(N) theories and supporting the idea of universal behavior across different gauge groups.

Contribution

It provides the first lattice-based analysis of Landau-gauge propagators in G2 Yang-Mills theory, comparing results with SU(N) theories to explore universality in gauge-fixed Green's functions.

Findings

Qualitative agreement of propagators with SU(2) and SU(3) cases

Support for the universality of Landau gauge Green's functions across gauge groups

G2 theory exhibits similar non-perturbative features as SU(N) theories

Abstract

G_2 Yang--Mills theory is an interesting laboratory to investigate non-perturbative effects. On one hand, no conventional quark confinement via a linearly rising potential is present. On the other hand, its thermodynamic properties are similar to ordinary SU(N) Yang--Mills theory. Finally, it has been conjectured that gluons are removed from the physical spectrum in the same way as in SU(N) Yang--Mills theory. The last claim will be explored by determining the Landau-gauge ghost and gluon propagators, as well as the Faddeev--Popov operator eigenspectrum, in G_2 lattice gauge theory in two and three dimensions. The results are found to agree qualitatively with the SU(2) and SU(3) case. Therefore, the conjecture that Yang--Mills theories with different gauge groups are qualitatively similar on the level of their Landau gauge Green's functions is supported.