Asymptotic freedom: history and interpretation

TL;DR

This paper reviews the historical development and physical interpretation of asymptotic freedom in non-abelian gauge theories, highlighting key derivations and conceptual explanations from the late 20th century.

Contribution

It provides a detailed historical account and clarifies the physical intuition behind asymptotic freedom, including the first correct derivation of eta_0 in Coulomb gauge.

Findings

First correct derivation of eta_0 in Coulomb gauge (1969)

Physical explanation of asymptotic freedom via chromomagnetic vacuum properties (1981)

Historical overview of asymptotic freedom development

Abstract

In this lecture, the early history of asymptotic freedom is discussed. The first completely correct derivation of \beta_0 in non-abelian gauge theory (Khriplovich, 1969) was done in the Coulomb gauge; this derivation is reproduced (in modernized terms) in Sect. 2. A qualitative physical explanation of asymptotic freedom via chromomagnetic properties of vacuum (Nielsen, 1981) is discussed in Sect. 3.