QCD beyond diagrams

TL;DR

This paper provides an overview of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), emphasizing phenomena like confinement and mass generation that are not easily captured by traditional perturbative diagrams.

Contribution

It offers a conceptual framework for understanding complex non-perturbative effects in QCD beyond standard diagrammatic methods.

Findings

Highlights the limitations of perturbation theory in QCD

Discusses mechanisms behind quark confinement and mass generation

Provides a conceptual overview of chiral symmetry breaking

Abstract

QCD, the theory of the strong interactions, involves quarks interacting with non-Abelian gluon fields. This theory has many features that are difficult to impossible to see in conventional diagrammatic perturbation theory. This includes quark confinement, mass generation, and chiral symmetry breaking. This paper is a colloquium level overview of the framework for understanding how these effects come about.