Effective "Gluon" Dynamics in a Stochastic Vacuum

TL;DR

This paper derives an effective gluon dynamics in a stochastic vacuum using a novel gauge condition, revealing a mass gap in pure Yang-Mills theory and discussing gauge invariance.

Contribution

It introduces a new scalar and vector degree of freedom from a non-linear gauge condition, leading to a novel derivation of the gluon mass gap.

Findings

Gluons acquire a range of possible masses in the stochastic vacuum.

The mass gap in pure Yang-Mills theory is derived from these dynamics.

The gauge-invariance of the results is discussed.

Abstract

Using the new scalar and vector degrees of freedom derived from the non-linear gauge condition (grad-dot-D)(grad-dot-A)=0, we show that the effective dynamics of the vector fields (identified as ``gluons'') in the stochastic vacuum defined by the scalars result in the vector fields acquiring a range of possible masses and losing their self-interactions. From this range of masses, we derive the mass gap in pure Yang-Mills theory. Finally, we comment on the gauge-invariance of the result.