We show how to correctly treat threshold singularities in fixed-order perturbative calculations of the electron anomalous magnetic moment and hadronic pair production processes such as top pair production. With respect to the former, we demonstrate the equivalence of the "non-perturbative", resummed treatment of the vacuum polarization contribution, whose spectral function exhibits bound state poles, with the fixed-order calculation by identifying a threshold localized term in the four-loop spectral function. In general, we find that a modification of the dispersion relation by threshold subtractions is required to make fixed-order calculations well-defined and provide the subtraction term. We then solve the apparent problem of a divergent convolution of the partonic cross section with the parton luminosity in the computation of the top pair production cross section starting from the fourth-order correction. We find that when the computation is performed in the usual way as an integral of real and virtual corrections over phase space at a given order in the expansion in the strong coupling, an additional contribution has to be added at N3LO.
We discuss dispersion representations for the triangle diagram $F(p_1^2,p_2^2,q^2)$, the single dispersion representation in $q^2$ and the double dispersion representation in $p_1^2$ and $p_2^2$, with special emphasis on the appearance of the anomalous singularities and the anomalous cuts in these representations. For the double dispersion representation in $p_1^2$ and $p_2^2$, the appearance of the anomalous cut in the region $q^2>0$ is demonstrated, and a new derivation of the anomalous double spectral density is given. We point out that the double spectral representation is particularly sui…
The first three coefficients of the Taylor's series expansion of the vector pion form factor as a function of the momentum transfer are evaluated using experimental data on the pion form factor and the P-wave pi pi phase shifts. The real part of the form factor as a function of energy is also calculated by dispersion relation. Comparisons these results with Chiral Perturbation Theory and unitarized models are given.
An exact formula is derived for the infrared singularities of dimensionally regularized scattering amplitudes in massless QCD with an arbitrary number of legs, valid at any number of loops. It is based on the conjecture that the anomalous-dimension matrix of n-jet operators in soft-collinear effective theory contains only a single non-trivial color structure, whose coefficient is the cusp anomalous dimension of Wilson loops with light-like segments. Its color-diagonal part is characterized by two anomalous dimensions, which are extracted to three-loop order from known perturbative results for …
We use the operator product expansion (OPE) to show that non-perturbative QCD corrections to $Δρ$ can be calculated using unsubtracted dispersion relations for either the transverse or the longitudinal vacuum polarization functions. Recent calculations of the non-perturbative contribution to $Δρ$ based on a non-relativistic calculation of corrections to the $\ttbar$ threshold are inconsistent with this result.
In perturbation theory, the spectral densities of two-point functions develop non-integrable threshold singularities at higher orders. In QCD, such singularities emerge when calculating the diagrams in terms of the pole quark mass, and they become stronger when one rearranges the perturbative expansion in terms of the running quark mass. In this paper we discuss the proper way to handle such singularities.
During several years the data on different channels ppbar (J^{PC}=0^{-+}) --> 3 mesons presented by Crystal Barrel Collaboration were successfully analyzed by extracting the leading amplitude singularities - pole singularities - with the aim to obtain information about two-meson resonances. But these analyses do not take into account three-body final state interactions (FSI) in an explicitly correct way. This paper is devoted to the consideration of this problem.
For the bosonic gravi-dilaton system, we provide systematical approaches to construct non-perturbative string cosmological solutions without curvature singularities, which can match the perturbative solution to any order in $α^{\prime}$ expansion. When higher order $α^{\prime}$ corrections are calculated, they can be straightforwardly plugged in to generate compatible non-perturbative evolutions without curvature singularities. We also give a (phenomenological) map between $α^{\prime}$ corrected EOM and loop corrected EOM. This map enables us to easily generate a loop corrected solution from a…
In many domains of physics, methods are needed to deal with non-perturbative aspects. I want here to argue that a good approach is to work on the Borel transforms of the quantities of interest, the singularities of which give non-perturbative contributions. These singularities in many cases can be largely determined by using the alien calculus developed by Jean Écalle. My main example will be the two point function of a massless theory given as a solution of a renormalization group equation.
A physical characterization of Landau singularities is emphasized, which should trace the lower boundary N_f^* of the conformal window in QCD and supersymmetric QCD. A natural way to disentangle ``perturbative'' from ``non-perturbative'' contributions below N_f^* is suggested. Assuming an infrared fixed point is present in the perturbative part of the QCD coupling even in some range below N_f^* leads to the condition gamma(N_f^*)=1, where gamma is the critical exponent. This result is incompatible with the existence of an analogue of Seiberg free dual magnetic phase in QCD. Using the Banks-Zak…
After reviewing basic facts about large-order behaviour of perturbation expansions in various fields of physics, I consider several alternatives to the Borel summation method and discuss their relevance to different physical situations. Then I convey news about the singularities in the Borel plane, and discuss the topical subject of the resummation of renormalon chains and its application in various QCD processes.
We study explicitly the applicability of perturbative QCD (pQCD) to the pion virtual Compton scattering. It is found that there are central-region singularities introduced by the QCD running coupling constant, in addition to the end-point singularities generally existed in other exclusive processes such as the pion form factor. We introduce a simple technique to evaluate the contributions from these singularities, so that we can arrive at a judgement that these contributions will be unharmful to the applicability of pQCD at certain energy scale, i.e., the ``work point'' which is defined to det…
Programs that calculate observables in quantum chromodynamics at next-to-leading order typically generate events that consist of partons rather than hadrons -- and just a few partons at that. These programs would be much more useful if the few partons were turned into parton showers, which could be given to one of the Monte Carlo event generators to produce hadron showers. In a previous paper, we have seen how to generate parton showers related to the final state collinear singularities of the perturbative calculation for the example of e+ + e- --> 3 jets. This paper discusses the treatment of…
Ill-defined pinch singularities arising in a perturbative expansion in out of equilibrium quantum field theory have a natural analogue to standard scattering theory. We explicitly demonstrate that the occurrence of such terms is directly related to Fermi's golden rule known from elementary scattering theory and is thus of no mystery. We further argue that within the process of thermalization of a plasma one has to resum such contributions to all orders as the process itself is of non-perturbative nature. In this way the resummed propagators obtain a finite width. Within the Markov approximatio…
The renormalization group method enables one to improve the properties of the QCD perturbative power series in the ultraviolet region. However, it ultimately leads to the unphysical singularities of observables in the infrared domain. The Analytic Perturbation Theory constitutes the next step of the improvement of perturbative expansions. Specifically, it involves additional analyticity requirement which is based on the causality principle and implemented in the Källen--Lehmann and Jost--Lehmann representations. Eventually, this approach eliminates spurious singularities of the perturbative po…
A new method of estimating higher order perturbative coefficients is discussed. It exploits the rapid, asymptotic growth of perturbative coefficients and the information on the singularities in the complex Borel plane. A comparison with other methods is made in several Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) expansions.
Systematic and careful studies are made on the properties of the IJ=00 $ππ$ and $K\bar K$ coupled-channel system, using newly derived dispersion relations between the phase shifts and poles and cuts. The effects of nearby branch point singularities to the determination of the $f_0(980)$ resonance are estimated and and discussed.
The analytic structure of {\it physical} amplitudes is considered for gauge theories with confinement of excitations corresponding to the elementary fields. Confinement is defined in terms of the BRST algebra. BRST-invariant, local, composite fields are introduced, which interpolate between physical asymptotic states. It is shown that the singularities of physical amplitudes are the same as in an effective theory with only physical fields. In particular, there are no structure singularities (anomalous thresholds) associated with confined constituents, like quarks and gluons. The old proofs of …
Positronium decay rates are computed at the one-loop level, using convolution-type factorized amplitudes. The dynamics of this factorization is probed with dispersion relations, showing that unallowed approximations are usually made, and some ordre alpha^2 corrections missed. Further, we discuss the relevance of the Schrodinger wavefunction as the basis for perturbative calculations. Finally, we apply our formalism to the parapositronium two-photon decay.
Perturbative QCD in mass independent schemes leads in general to running coupling $a(Q^2)$ which is nonanalytic (nonholomorphic) in the regime of low spacelike momenta $|Q^2| \lesssim 1 \ {\rm GeV}^2$. Such (Landau) singularities are inconvenient in the following sense: evaluations of spacelike physical quantities ${\cal D}(Q^2)$ with such a running coupling $a(κQ^2)$ ($κ\sim 1$) give us expressions with the same kind of singularities, while the general principles of local quantum field theory require that the mentioned physical quantities have no such singularities. In a previous work, certai…
The statement of the authors of the article Phys. Rev. C 77, 065211 (2008) that spurious singularities occur in the dispersion relation approach, where imaginary parts of the amplitudes of the process γγ->ππare saturated by the contributions of meson resonances by using Breit-Wigner expressions, is analyzed. It is shown that there are no any additional singularities in this approach and the disagreement between the predictions of the dispersion relations and the chiral perturbation theory for (α_1-β_1)_π^{\pm} remains.
We discuss a dispersion relation in the photon mass and show how (in principle) model-independent constraints on the parton distribution functions of the photon, notably a momentum sumrule, can be obtained. We present two sets of parametrizations, SaS~1 and~2, corresponding to two rather extreme realizations of the non-perturbative part. Inclusive electron scattering off a real photon is found to be insufficient to constrain the non-perturbative components. The additional sensitivity provided by the photon virtuality is outlined. Previous approaches to model the non-perturbative input distribu…
Programs that calculate observables in quantum chromodynamics at next-to-leading order typically suffer from the problem that, when considered as event generators, the events generated consist of partons rather than hadrons and just a few partons at that. Thus the events generated are completely unrealistic. These programs would be much more useful if the few partons were turned into parton showers, in the style of standard Monte Carlo event generators. Then the parton showers could be given to one of the Monte Carlo event generators to produce hadron showers. We show how to generate parton sh…
A number of hard exclusive scattering processes can be described in terms of generalized parton distributions (GPDs) and perturbative hard-scattering kernels. Both the physical amplitude and the hard-scattering kernels fulfill dispersion relations. We show that their consistency at all orders in perturbation theory is guaranteed if the GPDs satisfy certain integral relations. These relations are fulfilled thanks to Lorentz invariance.
We present a new perturbative formulation of non-equilibrium thermal field theory, based upon non-homogeneous free propagators and time-dependent vertices. Our approach to non-equilibrium dynamics yields time-dependent diagrammatic perturbation series that are free of pinch singularities, without the need to resort to quasi-particle approximation or effective resummations of finite widths. In our formalism, the avoidance of pinch singularities is a consequence of the consistent inclusion of finite-time effects and the proper consideration of the time of observation. After introducing a physica…
In the extraction of $α_s$ from hadronic tau decay data several moments of the spectral functions have been employed. Furthermore, different renormalization group improvement (RGI) frameworks have been advocated, leading to conflicting values of $α_s$. Recently, we performed a systematic study of the perturbative behavior of these moments in the context of the two main-stream RGI frameworks: Fixed Order Perturbation Theory (FOPT) and Contour Improved Perturbation Theory (CIPT). The yet unknown higher order coefficients of the perturbative series were modelled using the available knowledge of t…
In supersymmetric (SUSY) field theory, there exist configurations which formally satisfy SUSY conditions but are not on original path integral contour. We refer to such configurations as complexified supersymmetric solutions (CSS). In this paper we discuss that CSS provide important information on large order behavior of weak coupling perturbative series in SUSY field theories. We conjecture that CSS with a bosonic (fermionic) free parameter give poles (zeroes) of Borel transformation of perturbative series whose locations are uniquely determined by actions of the solutions. We demonstrate thi…
Dispersion relations allow for a coherent description of the nucleon electromagnetic form factors measured over a large range of momentum transfer, $Q^2 \simeq 0 \ldots 35$ GeV$^2$. Including constraints from unitarity and perturbative QCD, we present a novel parametrisation of the absorptive parts of the various isoscalar and isovector nucleon form factors. Using the current world data, we obtain results for the electromagnetic form factors, nucleon radii and meson couplings. We stress the importance of measurements at large momentum transfer to test the predictions of perturbative QCD.
We update a recent dispersion--theoretical fit to the nucleon electromagnetic form factors by including the existing data in the time--like region. We show that while the time--like data for the proton can be described consistently with the existing world space--like data, this is not the case for the neutron. Another measurement of the process $e^+ e^- \to \bar n n$ is called for. We furthermore sharpen the previous estimate of the separation between the perturbative and the non--perturbative regime, which is characterized by a scale parameter $Λ^2 \simeq 10\,$GeV$^2$.
We study collinear and soft singularities in perturbative quantum gravity by constructing an effective field theory similar to soft-collinear effective theory for QCD (SCET). We find that the soft sector exhibits factorization properties similar to those of SCET. The collinear sector is, however, quite different. While the leading-power collinear effective Lagrangian is trivial, the presence of the metric field $h_{++}$ with negative scaling dimension allows for collinear divergences in loop diagrams with couplings to non-collinear sources. We provide a compact proof of the well-known fact tha…
Under very general assumptions we show that the quark dispersion relation in the quark-gluon plasma is given by two collective branches, of which one has a minimum at a non-vanishing momentum. This general feature of the quark dispersion relation leads to structures (van Hove singularities, gaps) in the low mass dilepton production rate, which might provide a unique signature for the quark-gluon plasma formation in relativistic heavy ion collisions.
The description of strong interaction physics of low-lying resonances is out of the valid range of perturbative QCD. Chiral effective field theories have been developed to tackle the issue. Partial wave dynamics is the systematic tool to decode the underlying physics and reveal the properties of those resonances. It is extremely powerful and helpful for our understanding of the non-perturbative regime, especially when dispersion techniques are utilized simultaneously. Recently, plenty of exotic/ordinary hadrons have been reported by experiment collaborations, e.g. LHCb, Belle, and BESIII, etc.…
Recent attempts to determine the pion polarizability by dispersion relations yield values that disagree with the predictions of chiral perturbation theory. These dispersion relations are based on specific forms for the absorptive part of the Compton amplitudes. The analytic properties of these forms are examined, and the strong enhancement of intermediate-meson contributions is shown to be connected with spurious singularities. If the basic requirements of dispersion relations are taken into account, the results of dispersion theory and effective field theory are not inconsistent.
We analyze the dynamical chiral symmetry breaking (D$χ$SB) in the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model by using the non-perturbative renormalization group (NPRG) equation. The equation takes a form of two-dimensional partial differential equation for the multi-fermion effective interactions $V(x,t)$ where $x$ is $\barψψ$ operator and $t$ is the logarithm of the renormalization scale. The D$χ$SB occurs due to the quantum corrections, which means it emerges at some finite $t_{\rm c}$ in the mid of integrating the equation with respect to $t$. At $t_{\rm c}$ some singularities suddenly appear in $V$ wh…
We present a new perturbative formulation of non-equilibrium thermal field theory, based upon non-homogeneous free propagators and time-dependent vertices. The resulting time-dependent diagrammatic perturbation series are free of pinch singularities without the need for quasi-particle approximation or effective resummation of finite widths. After arriving at a physically meaningful definition of particle number densities, we derive master time evolution equations for statistical distribution functions, which are valid to all orders in perturbation theory and to all orders in a gradient expansi…
