Light-front holographic QCD and color confinement

Journal of physics, 2019

Few-Body Systems, 2012

Light-Front Holography is one of the most remarkable features of the AdS/CFT correspondence. In spite of its present limitations it provides important physical insights into the nonperturbative regime of QCD and its transition to the perturbative domain. This novel framework allows hadronic amplitudes in a higher dimensional anti-de Sitter (AdS) space to be mapped to frameindependent 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 Schrödinger 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 uniquely identified with a Lorentz-invariant coordinate ζ which measures the separation of the constituents within a hadron at equal light-front time and determines the off-shell dynamics of the bound-state wavefunctions, and thus the fall-off as a function of the invariant mass of the constituents. The soft-wall holographic model modified by a positive-sign dilaton metric, leads to a remarkable one-parameter description of nonperturbative hadron dynamics-a semi-classical frame-independent first approximation to the spectra and light-front wavefunctions of meson and baryons. The model predicts a Regge spectrum of linear trajectories with the same slope in the leading orbital angular momentum L of hadrons and the radial quantum number n. The hadron eigensolutions projected on the free Fock basis provides the complete set of valence and non-valence light-front Fock state wavefunctions Ψ n/H (x i , k ⊥i , λ i) which describe the hadron's momentum and spin distributions needed to compute the direct measures of hadron structure at the quark and gluon level, such as elastic and transition form factors, distribution amplitudes, structure functions, generalized parton distributions and transverse momentum distributions. The effective confining potential also creates quark-antiquark pairs from the amplitude q → qqq. Thus in holographic QCD higher Fock states can have any number of extra qq pairs. We discuss the relevance of higher Fock-states for describing the detailed structure of space and time-like form factors. The AdS/QCD model can be systematically improved by using its complete orthonormal solutions to diagonalize the full QCD light-front Hamiltonian or by applying the Lippmann-Schwinger method in order to systematically include the QCD interaction terms. A new perspective on quark and gluon condensates is also obtained.

Few-Body Systems

The valence Fock-state wavefunctions of the light-front QCD Hamiltonian satisfy a 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. If one requires that the effective action which underlies the QCD Lagrangian remains conformally invariant and extends the formalism of de Alfaro, Fubini and Furlan to light front Hamiltonian theory, the potential U has a unique form of a harmonic oscillator potential, and a mass gap arises. The result is a nonperturbative relativistic light-front quantum mechanical wave equation which incorporates color confinement and other essential spectroscopic and dynamical features of hadron physics, including a massless pion for zero quark mass and linear Regge trajectories with the same slope in the radial quantum number n and orbital angular momentum L. Only one mass parameter κ appears. The corresponding light-front Dirac equation provides a dynamical and spectroscopic model of nucleons. The same light-front equations arise from the holographic mapping of the soft-wall model modification of AdS 5 space with a unique dilaton profile to QCD (3+1) at fixed light-front time. Light-front holography thus provides a precise relation between the bound-state amplitudes in the fifth dimension of AdS space and the boost-invariant light-front wavefunctions describing the internal structure of hadrons in physical space-time. We also show how the mass scale κ underlying confinement and hadron masses determines the scale Λ M S controlling the evolution of the perturbative QCD coupling. The relation between scales is obtained by matching the nonperturbative dynamics, as described by an effective conformal theory mapped to the light-front and its embedding in AdS space, to the perturbative QCD regime computed to four-loop order. The result is an effective coupling defined at all momenta. The predicted value Λ M S = 0.328 ± 0.034 GeV is in agreement with the world average 0.339 ± 0.010 GeV. The analysis applies to any renormalization scheme.

Springer eBooks, 2017

Light-Front Quantization -Dirac's "Front Form" -provides a physical, frameindependent formalism for hadron dynamics and structure. Observables such as structure functions, transverse momentum distributions, and distribution amplitudes are defined from the hadronic light-front wavefunctions. One obtains new insights into the hadronic spectrum, light-front wavefunctions, and the functional form of the QCD running coupling in the nonperturbative domain using light-front holography -the duality between the front form and AdS 5 , the space of isometries of the conformal group. In addition, superconformal algebra leads to remarkable supersymmetric relations between mesons and baryons of the same parity. The mass scale κ underlying confinement and hadron masses can be connected to the parameter Λ M S in the QCD running coupling by matching the nonperturbative dynamics, as described by the effective conformal theory mapped to the light-front and its embedding in AdS space, to the perturbative QCD regime. The result is an effective coupling defined at all momenta. This matching of the high and low momentum transfer regimes determines a scale Q 0 which sets the interface between perturbative and nonperturbative hadron dynamics. The use of Q 0 to resolve the factorization scale uncertainty for structure functions and distribution amplitudes, in combination with the principle of maximal conformality (PMC) for setting the renormalization scales, can greatly improve the precision of perturbative QCD predictions for collider phenomenology. The absence of vacuum excitations of the causal, frame-independent front form vacuum has important consequences for the cosmological constant. I also discuss evidence that the antishadowing of nuclear structure functions is non-universal; i.e., flavor dependent, and why shadowing and antishadowing phenomena may be incompatible with the momentum and other sum rules for nuclear parton distribution functions.

Russian Physics Journal, 2017

A fundamental problem in hadron physics is to obtain a relativistic colorconfining, first approximation to QCD which can predict both hadron spectroscopy and the frame-independent light-front wavefunctions underlying hadron dynamics. The QCD Lagrangian with zero quark mass has no explicit mass scale; the classical theory is conformally invariant. Thus a fundamental problem is understand how the mass gap, and ratios of masses such as m ρ /m p --can arise in chiral QCD. de Alfaro, Fubini, and Furlan have made an important observation that a mass scale can appear in the equations of motion without affecting the conformal invariance of the action if one adds a term to the Hamiltonian proportional to the dilatation operator or the special conformal operator and rescales the time variable. If one applies the same procedure to the light-front Hamiltonian, it leads uniquely to a confinement potential κ 4 ζ 2 for mesons, where ζ 2 is the LF radial variable conjugate to the q q invariant mass squared. The same result, including spin terms, is obtained using light-front holography -the duality between light-front dynamics and AdS 5 , the space of isometries of the conformal group -if one modifies the action of AdS 5 by the dilaton e κ 2 z 2 in the fifth dimension z. When one generalizes this procedure using superconformal algebra, the resulting light-front eigensolutions predict a unified Regge spectroscopy of meson, baryon, and tetraquarks, including remarkable supersymmetric relations between the masses of mesons and baryons of the same parity. One also predicts observables such as hadron structure functions, transverse momentum distributions, and the distribution amplitudes defined from the hadronic light-front wavefunctions. The mass scale κ underlying confinement and hadron masses can be connected to the parameter Λ M S in the QCD running coupling by matching the nonperturbative dynamics to the perturbative

Nuclear Physics B - Proceedings Supplements, 2014

Light-Front Hamiltonian theory, derived from the quantization of the QCD Lagrangian at fixed light-front time τ = t + z/c, provides a rigorous frame-independent framework for solving nonperturbative QCD. The eigenvalues of the light-front QCD Hamiltonian predict the hadronic mass spectrum, and the corresponding eigensolutions provide the light-front wavefunctions which describe hadron structure. 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. In fact, the potential U has a unique form if one requires that the action for zero quark mass remains conformally invariant. We also show that the holographic mapping of gravity in AdS space to QCD with a specific soft-wall dilaton yields the same light-front Schrödinger equation. Lightfront holography also leads to a precise relation between the bound-state amplitudes in the fifth dimension z of AdS space and the boost-invariant light-front wavefunctions describing the internal structure of hadrons in physical space-time. The elastic and transition form factors of the pion and the nucleons are found to be well described in this framework. The predictions of the LF equations of motion include a zero-mass pion in the chiral m q → 0 limit, and linear Regge trajectories M 2

Light-Front Hamiltonian theory, derived from the quantization of the QCD Lagrangian at fixed lightfront time τ = x 0 + x 3 , provides a rigorous frame-independent framework for solving nonperturbative QCD. The eigenvalues of the light-front QCD Hamiltonian HLF predict the hadronic mass spectrum, and the corresponding eigensolutions provide the light-front wavefunctions which describe hadron structure. In the case of mesons, the valence Fock-state wavefunctions of HLF for zero quark mass satisfy a singlevariable relativistic equation of motion in the invariant variable ζ 2 = b 2 ⊥ x(1 − x), which is conjugate to the invariant mass squared M 2 qq. The effective confining potential U (ζ 2) in this frame-independent "light-front Schrödinger equation" systematically incorporates the effects of higher quark and gluon Fock states. Remarkably, the potential has a unique form of a harmonic oscillator potential if one requires that the chiral QCD action remains conformally invariant. The result is a nonperturbative relativistic light-front quantum mechanical wave equation which incorporates color confinement and other essential spectroscopic and dynamical features of hadron physics. Anti-de Sitter space in five dimensions plays a special role in elementary particle physics since it provides an exact geometrical representation of the conformal group. Remarkably, gravity in AdS5 space is holographically dual to frame-independent light-front Hamiltonian theory. Light-front holography also leads to a precise relation between the bound-state amplitudes in the fifth dimension z of AdS space and the variable ζ, the argument of the boost-invariant light-front wavefunctions describing the internal structure of hadrons in physical space-time. The holographic mapping of gravity in AdS space to QCD with a specific "soft-wall" dilaton yields the confining potential U (ζ 2) which is consistent with conformal invariance of the QCD action and the light-front Schrödinger equation, extended to hadrons with arbitrary spin J. One thus obtains an effective light-front effective theory for general spin which respects the conformal symmetry of the four-dimensional classical QCD Lagrangian. The predictions of the LF equations of motion include a zero-mass pion in the chiral mq → 0 limit, and linear Regge trajectories M 2 (n, L) ∝ n+L with the same slope in the radial quantum number n and the orbital angular momentum L. The light-front AdS/QCD holographic approach thus gives a frame-independent representation of color-confining dynamics, Regge spectroscopy, as well as the excitation spectra of relativistic light-quark meson and also baryon bound states in QCD in terms of a single mass parameter. We also briefly discuss the implications of the underlying conformal template of QCD for renormalization scale-setting and the implications of light-front quantization for the value of the cosmological constant.

Nuclear Physics B - Proceedings Supplements, 2010

AdS/QCD, the correspondence between theories in a modified five-dimensional anti-de Sitter space and confining field theories in physical space-time, provides a remarkable semiclassical model for hadron physics. Light-front holography allows hadronic amplitudes in the AdS 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. We identify the AdS coordinate z with an invariant light-front coordinate ζ 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 Schrödinger equation with a confining potential which determines the eigenspectrum and the light-front wavefunctions of hadrons for general spin and orbital angular momentum. The mapping of electromagnetic and gravitational form factors in AdS space to their corresponding expressions in light-front theory confirms this correspondence. Some novel features of QCD are discussed, including the consequences of confinement for quark and gluon condensates. The distinction between static structure functions, such as the probability distributions computed from the square of the light-front wavefunctions, versus dynamical structure functions which include the effects of rescattering, is emphasized. A new method for computing the hadronization of quark and gluon jets at the amplitude level, an event amplitude generator, is outlined.

Proceedings of Xth Quark Confinement and the Hadron Spectrum — PoS(Confinement X)

Few-Body Systems, 2013