Gribov copies, avalanches and dynamic generation of a gluon mass

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new gauge-fixing method inspired by disordered systems physics, demonstrating that Gribov copies can dynamically generate a gauge-dependent gluon mass through 1-loop calculations.

Contribution

It proposes a novel gauge-fixing procedure that clarifies the role of Gribov copies and shows their potential to induce gluon mass dynamically.

Findings

Gribov copies influence gluon mass generation

New gauge-fixing method clarifies Gribov copy effects

1-loop calculations support dynamical gluon mass emergence

Abstract

Analytic calculations in the infrared regime of nonabelian gauge theories are hampered by the presence of Gribov copies which results in some ambiguity in the gauge-fixing procedure. This problem shares strong similarities with the issue of finding the true ground state among a large number of metastable states, a typical situation in the field of statistical physics of disordered systems. Building on this analogy, we propose a new gauge-fixing procedure which, we argue, makes more explicit the influence of the Gribov copies. A 1-loop calculation shows that the dynamics of these copies can lead to the spontaneous generation of a gauge-dependent gluon mass.