The N_f=0 heavy quark potential and perturbation theory

TL;DR

This paper investigates the static quark-antiquark potential at short distances using lattice QCD and compares the results with perturbation theory, finding no significant non-perturbative effects within the studied range.

Contribution

It provides a detailed lattice QCD analysis of the heavy quark potential at short distances and assesses the validity of perturbation theory in this regime.

Findings

Lattice results agree with perturbation theory predictions at short distances.

No evidence of large non-perturbative effects at distances down to 0.05 fm.

Careful choice of renormalization scheme is crucial for comparison.

Abstract

The potential of a static quark-antiquark pair is studied in the range 0.05 fm $<$ r $<$ 0.8 fm, employing a sequence of lattices up to 64^4. The continuum quantities are evaluated by extrapolation of the data at finite lattice spacing. The results are compared with the perturbation theory predictions obtained from the solution of the renormalization group equation for the coupling. The renormalization scheme must be chosen carefully. No evidence for large non-perturbative effects at short distances is seen.