The Casimir force between conducting plates at rest in an inertial frame is usually computed in equal-time quantization, the natural choice for the given boundary conditions. We show that the well-known result obtained in this way can also be obtained in light-front quantization. This differs from a light-front analysis where the plates are at "rest" in an infinite momentum frame, rather than an inertial frame; in that case, as shown by Lenz and Steinbacher, the result does not agree with the standard result. As is usually done, the analysis is simplified by working with a scalar field and periodic boundary conditions, in place of the complexity of quantum electrodynamics. The two key ingredients are a careful implementation of the boundary conditions, following the work of Almeida et al. on oblique light-front coordinates, and computation of the ordinary energy density, rather than the light-front energy density. The analysis demonstrates that the physics of the effect is independent of the coordinate choice, as it must be.
Depending on the point of view, the Casimir force arises from variation in the energy of the quantum vacuum as boundary conditions are altered or as an interaction between atoms in the materials that form these boundary conditions. Standard analyses of such configurations are usually done in terms of ordinary, equal-time (Minkowski) coordinates. However, physics is independent of the coordinate choice, and an analysis based on light-front coordinates, where $x^+\equiv t+z/c$ plays the role of time, is equally valid. After a brief historical introduction, we illustrate and compare equal-time an…
The dependence of light hadron masses and baryon magnetic moments on the magnitude of the Casimir energy is examined in the bag model with center-of-mass corrections. There are seven free parameters in the model. Six of them are determined from the fit to the masses of certain hadrons, and the last one (Casimir energy parameter) from the best fit to the magnetic moments of light baryons. The predicted magnetic moments are compared with the results obtained in various other models and with experiment data.
We apply a perturbative approach to evaluate the Casimir energy for a massless real scalar field in 3+1 dimensions, subject to Dirichlet boundary conditions on two surfaces. One of the surfaces is assumed to be flat, while the other corresponds to a small deformation, described by a single function $η$, of a flat mirror. The perturbative expansion is carried out up to the fourth order in the deformation $η$, and the results are applied to the calculation of the Casimir energy for corrugated mirrors in front of a plane. We also reconsider the proximity force approximation within the context of …
We derive constraints on corrections to Newtonian gravity of the Yukawa type and light elementary particles from two recently performed measurements of the gradient of the Casimir force. In the first measurement the configuration of two Au surfaces has been used, whereas in the second a nonmagnetic metal Au interacted with a magnetic metal Ni. In these configurations one arrives at different, respectively, similar theoretical predictions for the Casimir force when the competing theoretical approaches are employed. Nevertheless, we demonstrate that the constraints following from both experiment…
We investigate the Casimir stress on a topological insulator (TI) between two metallic plates. The TI is assumed to be joined to one of the plates and its surface in front of the other is covered by a thin magnetic layer, which turns the TI into a full insulator. We also analyze the limit where one of the plates is sent to infinity yielding the Casimir stress between a conducting plate and a TI. To this end we employ a local approach in terms of the stress-energy tensor of the system, its vacuum expectation value being subsequently evaluated in terms of the appropriate Green's function. Finall…
Effective hadron models commonly require the computation of functional determinants. In the static case these are one--loop vacuum polarization energies, known as Casimir energies. In this talk I will present general methods to efficiently compute renormalized one--loop vacuum polarization energies and energy densities and apply these methods to construct soliton solutions within a variational approach. This calculational method is particularly useful to study singular limits that emerge in the discussion of the {\it classical} Casimir problem which is usually posed as the response of a fluctu…
We summarize the light-front coupled-cluster (LFCC) method for the solution of field-theoretic bound-state eigenvalue problems and indicate the connection with light-front holographic QCD. This includes a sample application of the LFCC method and leads to a relativistic quark model for mesons that adds longitudinal dynamics to the usual transverse light-front holographic Schrodinger equation.
We discuss the constraints on the parameters of a Yukawa interaction obtained from the indirect measurements of the Casimir pressure between parallel plates using the sphere-plate configuration. Recently, it was claimed in the literature that the application of the proximity force approximation (PFA) to the calculation of a Yukawa interaction in the sphere-plate configuration could lead to a large error of order 100\% in the constraints obtained. Here we re-calculate the constraints both exactly and using the PFA, and arrive at identical results. We elucidate the reasons why an incorrect concl…
Light-Front Quantization -- Dirac's "Front Form" -- provides a physical, frame-independent formalism for hadron dynamics and structure. Observables such as structure functions, transverse momentum distributions, and distribution amplitudes are defined from the hadronic LFWFs. One obtains new insights into the hadronic mass scale, the hadronic spectrum, and the functional form of the QCD running coupling in the nonperturbative domain using light-front holography. In addition, superconformal algebra leads to remarkable supersymmetric relations between mesons and baryons. I also discuss evidence …
Light-front QCD is studied by the method of flow equations. Dynamical gluon mass is generated, which evolves with the cut-off according to renormalization group equation. Eliminating by flow equations the quark gluon coupling with the dynamical gluon mode, one obtains an effective interaction between quark and antiquark which exibits the Coulomb and confining singularities. The scale, which regulates the light-front IR singularities in the gluon sector, defines the string tension of confining interaction. The mechanism of confinement in the light-front formalism is suggested, based on the sing…
We present supplementary information on the recent indirect measurement of the Casimir pressure between two parallel plates using a micromachined oscillator. The equivalent pressure between the plates is obtained by means of the proximity force approximation after measuring the force gradient between a gold coated sphere and a gold coated plate. The data are compared with a new theoretical approach to the thermal Casimir force based on the use of the Lifshitz formula, combined with a generalized plasma-like dielectric permittivity which takes into account interband transitions of core electron…
Light-front holography allows hadronic amplitudes in the AdS/QCD fifth dimension to be mapped to frame-independent light-front wavefunctions of hadrons in physical space-time, thus providing a relativistic description of hadrons at the amplitude level. The AdS coordinate z is identified with an invariant light-front coordinate zeta which separates the dynamics of quark and gluon binding from the kinematics of constituent spin and internal orbital angular momentum. The result is a single-variable light-front Schrodinger equation for QCD which determines the eigenspectrum and the light-front wav…
We study the Casimir problem as the limit of a conventional quantum field theory coupled to a smooth background. The Casimir energy diverges in the limit that the background forces the field to vanish on a surface. We show that this divergence cannot be absorbed into a renormalization of the parameters of the theory. As a result, the Casimir energy of the surface and other quantities like the surface tension, which are obtained by deforming the surface, cannot be defined independently of the details of the coupling between the field and the matter on the surface. In contrast, the energy densit…
In the first part of my lectures, I will use the example of deep-inelastic scattering to explain why light-front coordinates play a distinguished role in many high energy scattering experiments. After a brief introduction into the concept of light-front quantization, I will show that the vacuum for any light-front Hamiltonian is trivial, i.e. the same as for non-interacting fields. In the rest of my lectures, I will discuss several toy models in 1+1 and 3+1 dimensions and discuss how effective light-front Hamiltonians resolve the apparent paradox that results from having a trivial light-front …
Light-Front quantization is one of the most promising and physical tools towards studying deep inelastic scattering on the basis of quark gluon degrees of freedom. The simplified vacuum structure (nontrivial vacuum effects can only appear in zero-mode degrees of freedom) and the physical basis allows for a description of hadrons that stays close to intuition. I am reviewing recent progress in understanding the deep connection between renormalization of light-front Hamiltonians, effective light-front Hamiltonians and nontrivial vacuum condensates.
We investigate the leading-twist transverse momentum-dependent distribution functions (TMDs) for a physical electron, a spin-1/2 composite system consisting of a bare electron and a photon, using the Basis Light-front Quantization (BLFQ) framework. The light-front wave functions of the physical electron are obtained from the eigenvectors of the light-front QED Hamiltonian. We evaluate the TMDs using the overlaps of the light-front wave functions. The BLFQ results are found to be in excellent agreement with those TMDs calculated using lowest-order perturbation theory.
We construct the gluon wave functions, fragmentation functions and scattering amplitudes within the light-front perturbation theory. Recursion relations on the light-front are constructed for the wave functions and fragmentation functions, which in the latter case are the light-front analogs of the Berends-Giele recursion relations. Using general relations between wave functions and scattering amplitudes it is demonstrated how to obtain the maximally-helicity violating amplitudes, and explicit verification of the results is based on simple examples.
The fragmentation functions and scattering amplitudes are investigated in the framework of light-front perturbation theory. It is demonstrated that, the factorization property of the fragmentation functions implies the recursion relations for the off-shell scattering amplitudes which are light-front analogs of the Berends-Giele relations. These recursion relations on the light-front can be solved exactly by induction and it is shown that the expressions for the off-shell light-front amplitudes are represented as a linear combinations of the on-shell amplitudes. By putting external particles on…
We study the light-front covariance of a vector-meson decay constant using a manifestly covariant fermion field theory model in $(3+1)$ dimensions. The light-front zero-mode issues are analyzed in terms of polarization vectors and method of identifying the zero-mode operator and of obtaining the light-front covariant decay constant is discussed.
We identify an invariant light-front coordinate $ζ$ which allows the separation of the dynamics of quark and gluon binding from the kinematics of constituent spin and internal orbital angular momentum. The result is a single-variable light-front Schrodinger equation for QCD which determines the eigenspectrum and the light-front wavefunctions of hadrons for general spin and orbital angular momentum. This frame-independent light-front wave equation is equivalent to the equations of motion which describe the propagation of spin-$J$ modes on anti-de Sitter (AdS) space. Light-front holography is a …
The definition of chiral transformations in light-front field theory is very different from the conventional form in equal-time formalism. We study the consistency of chiral transformations and chiral symmetry in light-front QCD and derive a complete new light-front axial-vector current for QCD. The breaking of chiral symmetry in light-front QCD is only associated with helicity flip interaction between quarks and gluons. Remarkably, the new axial-vector current does not contain the pion pole part so that the associate chiral charge smoothly describes pion transitions for various hadronic proce…
We discuss the light-front zero-mode issue in the light-front quark model prediction of the twist-3 distribution amplitude of a pseudoscalar meson from the perspective of the vacuum fluctuation consistent with the chiral symmetry of QCD.
We present a calculation of Wigner distributions for gluons in light-front dressed quark model. We calculate the kinetic and canonical gluon orbital angular momentum and spin-orbit correlation of the gluons in this model.
In this series of lectures, I shall begin with the current investigations on phenomenology of hadron dynamics to demonstrate the importance of solving hadronic bound states within the framework of light-front (LF) QCD. Then, I will describe the basic procedure how to formulate the canonical theory of LFQCD, including light-front quantization of QCD, light-front gauge singularity, and light-front two-component formalism. I will also present a complete one-loop QCD calculation in terms of the light-front time-ordering perturbation theory, in comparison with the usual covariant perturbative QCD c…
Axion is a light pseudoscalar particle of much interest for physics of elementary particles and for astrophysics. We review the recently obtained constraints on axion to nucleon coupling constants following from different experiments on measuring the Casimir interaction. These constraints are compared with those following from other laboratory experiments within the wide range of masses of axion-like particles from 10^{-10} to 20 eV. We also collect the most strong constraints on the Yukawa-type and power-type corrections to the Newton law of gravitation which follow from measurements of the C…
We propose $D$ mesons as probes to investigate finite-volume effects for chiral symmetry breaking at zero and finite temperature. By using the $2+1$-flavor linear-sigma model with constituent light quarks, we analyze the Casimir effects for the $σ$ mean fields: The chiral symmetry is rapidly restored by the antiperiodic boundary for light quarks, and the chiral symmetry breaking is catalyzed by the periodic boundary. We also show the phase diagram of the $σ$ mean fields on the volume and temperature plane. For $D$ mesons, we employ an effective model based on the chiral-partner structure, wher…
One of the most important nonperturbative methods for solving QCD is quantization at fixed light-front time, τ= t+z/c -- Dirac's "Front Form". The eigenvalues of the light-front QCD Hamiltonian predict the hadron spectrum and the eigensolutions provide the light-front wavefunctions which describe hadron structure. More generally, we show that the valence Fock-state wavefunctions of the light-front QCD Hamiltonian satisfy a single-variable relativistic equation of motion, analogous to the nonrelativistic radial Schrödinger equation, with an effective confining potential U which systematically i…
We investigate the structure of the light meson with one dynamical gluon from the light-front QCD Hamiltonian, determined for their constituent quark-antiquark and quark-antiquark-gluon Fock sectors, together with a three-dimensional confinement. After fitting the light meson mass spectroscopy, the light-front wave functions provide a good quality description of the pion electromagnetic form factor, and the valence quark distribution functions following QCD scale evolution.
This lecture note is written for 'Courses on Light-Cone Techniques applied to QCD', Nov 21-25, 2022, IGFAE. It is intended to provide basic knowledge and selective perspectives on the application of light-front Hamiltonian approach to mesons in two 1.5-hour lectures.
Light-Front Holography, a remarkable feature of the AdS/CFT correspondence, maps amplitudes in anti-de Sitter (AdS) space to frame-independent light-front wavefunctions of hadrons in physical space-time. The model leads to an effective confining light-front QCD Hamiltonian and a single-variable light-front Schrodinger equation which determines the eigenspectrum and the light-front wavefunctions of hadrons for general spin and orbital angular momentum. The coordinate z in AdS space is identified with a Lorentz-invariant coordinate zeta which measures the separation of the constituents within a …
We compare light-front quantization and instant-time quantization both at the level of operators and at the level of their Feynman diagram matrix elements. At the level of operators light-front quantization and instant-time quantization lead to equal light-front time commutation (or anticommutation) relations that appear to be quite different from equal instant-time commutation (or anticommutation) relations. Despite this we show that at unequal times instant-time and light-front commutation (or anticommutation) relations actually can be transformed into each other, with it only being the rest…
The eigenvalues of the light-front QCD Hamiltonian, quantized at fixed light-front time τ= t+z/c, predict the hadronic mass spectrum and the corresponding eigensolutions provide the light-front wavefunctions which describe hadron structure. More generally, we show that the valence Fock-state wavefunctions of the light-front QCD Hamiltonian satisfy a single-variable relativistic equation of motion, analogous to the nonrelativistic radial Schrödinger equation, with an effective confining potential $U$ which systematically incorporates the effects of higher quark and gluon Fock states. We outline…
We study the heavy-light mesons within basis light-front quantization. The resulting mass spectra of $D$, $D_s$, $B$, and $B_s$ agree reasonably well with experiments. We also predict states which could be measured in the near future. In the light-front formalism, we calculate the light-front wave functions and additional experimental observables, such as parton distribution functions, distribution amplitudes, and decay constants by means of integrations over light-front wave functions. We also provide ratios of decay constants for selected pseudoscalar meson decays ($D_s$ to $D$ and $B_s$ to …
We study the structure of scalar field light front quantization vacuum graphs. In instant time quantization both non-vacuum and vacuum graphs can equivalently be described by either the off-shell four-dimensional Feynman diagram approach or the on-shell three-dimensional Fock space approach, with this being the case since the relevant Feynman diagrams are given entirely by pole terms. This is also the case for light front quantization non-vacuum graphs. However this is the not the case for light front vacuum sector diagrams, since then there are also circle at infinity contributions to Feynman…
The aim of these lectures is to convey a working knowledge of Light Front Holographic QCD and Supersymmetric Light Front Holographic QCD. We first give an overview of holographic QCD in general and then concentrate on the application of the holographic methods on QCD quantized in the light front form. We show how the implementation of the supersymmetric algebra fixes the interaction and how one can obtain hadron mass spectra with the minimal number of parameters. We also treat propagators and compare the holographic approach with other non-perturbative methods. In the last chapter we describe …
We discuss the equivalence between light-front time-ordered-perturbation theory and covariant quantum field theory in light-front quantization, in the case of quantum electrodynamics at one-loop level. In particular, we review the one-loop calculation of the vertex correction, fermion self-energy and vacuum polarization. We apply the procedure of integration by residue over the light-front energy in the loop to show how the perturbative expansion in covariant terms can be reduced to a sum of propagating and instantaneous diagrams of light-front time-ordered perturbation theory. The detailed pr…
We study the helicity-independent generalized parton distributions of nucleons in the zero skewness case, based on a particular light-front quark model derived in a soft-wall AdS/QCD approach.
We investigate the two-photon transitions $H_{c\bar c} \to γ^*γ$ of the charmonium system in light-front dynamics. The light-front wave functions were obtained from solving the effective Hamiltonian based on light-front holography and one-gluon exchange interaction within the basis light-front quantization approach. We compute the two-photon transition form factors as well as the two-photon decay widths for S- and P-wave charmonia, $η_c$ and $χ_{cJ}$ and their excitations. Without introducing any free parameters, our predictions are in good agreement with the recent experimental measurements b…
Starting from the Hamiltonian equation of motion in QCD we find a single variable light-front equation for QCD which determines the eigenspectrum and the light-front wavefunctions of hadrons for general spin and orbital angular momentum. This light-front wave equation is equivalent to the equations of motion which describe the propagation of spin-$J$ modes on anti-de Sitter (AdS) space.
We apply the basis light front quantization (BLFQ) approach to describe the valence structures of the charged light meson ground states. Specifically, the light front wavefunctions of $π^\pm$, $ρ^\pm$, $K^\pm$, and $K^{*\pm}$ are obtained as the eigenvectors of the light front effective Hamiltonians with confinement potentials supplemented by the color singlet Nambu--Jona-Lasinio (NJL) interactions. We adjust our model such that the spectrum of these ground states and the charge radii of the pseudoscalar states agree with experimental results. We present the elastic form factors and parton dis…
Through an impulse approximation analysis of single spin Sivers and Collins asymmetries in the Bjorken limit, the possibility to extract the quark transverse-momentum distributions in the neutron from semi-inclusive deep inelastic electron scattering off polarized 3He is illustrated. The analysis is generalized to finite momentum transfers in a light-front Poincare' covariant framework, defining the light-front spin-dependent spectral function of a J=1/2 system. The definition of the light-front spin-dependent spectral function for constituent quarks in the nucleon allows us to show that, with…
QED vacua under the influence of external conditions (background fields, finite temperature, boundary conditions) can be considered as dispersive media whose complex behaviour can no longer be described in terms of a single universal vacuum velocity of light c. Beginning in the early 1950's (J.S. Toll), quantum field theoretic investigations have led to considerable insight into the relation between the vacuum structure and the propagation of light. Recent years have witnessed a significant growth of activity in this field of research. After a short overview, two characteristic situations are …
Light-front wave functions play a fundamental role in the light-front quantization approach to QCD and hadron structure. However, a naive implementation of the light-front quantization suffers from various subtleties including the well-known zero-mode problem, the associated rapidity divergences which mixes ultra-violet divergences with infrared physics, as well as breaking of spatial rotational symmetry. We advocate that the light-front quantization should be viewed as an effective theory in which small $k^+$ modes have been effectively ``integrated out'', with an infinite number of renormali…
A general procedure for obtaining frame-independent, three-dimensional light-front coordinate-space wave functions is introduced. The third spatial coordinate, $\tilde z$ , is the frame independent coordinate conjugate to the light-front momentum coordinate $x={k^+\over P^+}$ which appears in the momentum-space light-front wave functions underlying generalized parton distributions, structure functions, distribution amplitudes, form factors, and other hadronic observables. These causal light-front coordinate-space wave functions are used to derive a general expression for the quark distribution…
Convergence in charmonium structure: light-front wave functions from basis light-front quantization and Dyson-Schwinger equations
University of Science & Technology of China（中国科学技术大学）；Anhui Center for Fundamental Sciences in Theoretical Physics（安徽基础前沿与交叉科学研究中心）；Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics（南京航空航天大学）；Iowa State University（爱荷华州立大学）；Anhui University of Science and Technology（安徽理工大学）
The wave function in relativity is defined, in four-dimensional space, on a space-like three-dimensional plane. The plane, most close to the time-like region, is the light-front plane $ct+z=0$. Corresponding dynamical approach - the light-front dynamics - has considerable advantages. We describe, in a field-theoretical framework, the construction of light-front dynamics and illustrate it by some examples.
We study the system of a massive fermion field confined between two parallel plates, where the properties of both plates are discussed under chiral MIT boundary conditions. We investigate the effects of the chiral angle on the Casimir energy for a massive fermion field with the general momentum. We find that the Casimir energy as a function of the chiral angle is generally symmetric, and the attractive Casimir force in the chiral case is stronger than that in the nonchiral case. In addition, we investigate the approximate Casimir energy for light and heavy mass cases. The behavior of the discr…
It is shown that light front thermal field theory is equivalent to conventional thermal field theory. The proof is based on the use of spectral representations, and applies to all Lagrangians for which such equivalence has been proven at zero temperature. It is also pointed out that conventional spectral functions can be used to express light-front finite temperature free propagators. As an application of our approach, we derive the light-front finite temperature spin 1/2 fermion propagator in full Dirac space.
This is the second paper on hadronic wave functions in the light front formulation. We first consider only confinement effects, using the classical Nambu-Gotto string with massive end points in the light cone gauge. We derive the light-front Hamiltonian and show how to solve it, using an expansion in suitable basis functions. We next discuss the correlators of Wilson lines on the light front, leading to an effective Hamiltonian that includes spin effects. At the end, we consider a separate problem of instanton-induced interactions, at the origin of the pion as a massless Goldstone mode on the …
