Counting Gribov copies

TL;DR

This paper investigates the enumeration of Gribov copies in non-abelian gauge theories, revealing their role in confinement, gluon suppression, and implications for vacuum energy through their distribution and growth patterns.

Contribution

It provides an explicit counting method for Gribov copies, linking their growth and distribution to confinement and nonlocal effects in gauge theories.

Findings

Power-law growth of Gribov copies suppresses gluon propagation

Distribution of copies correlates with enhanced small eigenvalues of the Fadeev-Popov operator

Implications for vacuum energy due to nonlocality and discreteness in the number of copies

Abstract

We show that an explicit counting of Gribov copies can shed light on the infrared behavior of non-abelian gauge theories. A power-law growth of the number of copies suppresses gluon propagation while the distribution of copies along a gauge orbit implies an enhanced density of small eigenvalues of the Fadeev-Popov operator. Both of these phenomena are related to confinement. The discreteness in the number of copies and the associated nonlocality also has implications for vacuum energy.