Power corrections from short distances

It is argued that power contributions of short distance origin naturally arise in the infrared finite coupling approach. A phenomenology of $1/Q^2$ power corrections is sketched.Comment: 5 pages, latex, no figures. Expanded version of a talk presented at the EPS HEP97 Conference (Jerusalem, August 1997

On threshold resummation beyond leading 1-x order

We check against exact finite order three-loop results for the non-singlet F_2 and F_3 structure functions the validity of a class of momentum space ansaetze for threshold resummation at the next-to-leading order in 1-x, which generalize results previously obtained in the large-\beta_0 limit. We find that the ansaetze do not work exactly, pointing towards an obstruction to threshold resummation at this order, but still yield correct results at the leading logarithmic level for each color structures, as well as at the next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic level for the specific C_F^3 color factor. A universality of the leading logarithm contributions to the physical evolution kernels of F_2 and F_3 at the next-to-leading order in 1-x is observed.Comment: v1:18 pages; v2: 26 pages, expanded version with new results for the F_3 structure function and added references; v3: more concise sections 3 and 4, improved discussion in section 5, added references, to be published in JHE

Infrared finite coupling in Sudakov resummation: the precise set-up

I show that Sudakov resummation takes a transparent form if one deals with the second logarithmic derivative of the short distance coefficient functions for deep inelastic scattering and the Drell-Yan process. A uniquely defined Sudakov exponent emerges, and the constant terms not included in the exponent are conjectured to be given by the second logarithmic derivative of the massless quark form factor. The precise framework for the implementation of the dispersive approach to power corrections is set-up, yielding results in agreement with infrared renormalon expectations, but which are not tied to the single (dressed) gluon exchange approximation. Indications for a Banks-Zaks type of perturbative fixed point in the Sudakov effective coupling at low N_f are pointed out. Existence of a fixed point in the Sudakov coupling is argued to imply its universality.Comment: 5 pages, improved version of hep-ph/0606033, new result on universality of power corrections; version 2: added material, comments and references (to appear in Physical Review D (Rapid Communication)); version 3: a few misprints corrected, one reference added (journal version

Fixing the conformal window in QCD

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 to amplitudes below N_f^* is suggested. Assuming an infrared fixed point persists in the perturbative part of the QCD coupling even below N_f^* leads to the condition \gamma(N_f^*)=1, where \gamma is the critical exponent. Using the Banks-Zaks expansion, one gets 4<N_f^*<6. This result is incompatible with the existence of an analogue of Seiberg duality in QCD. The presence of a negative ultraviolet fixed point is required both in QCD and in supersymmetric QCD to preserve causality within the conformal window. Evidence for the existence of such a fixed point in QCD is provided.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, extended version of a talk given at the QCDNET2000 meeting, Paris, September 11-14 2000; main new material added is evidence for negative ultraviolet fixed point in QC

Constant terms in threshold resummation and the quark form factor

We verify to order alpha_s^4 two previously conjectured relations, valid in four dimensions, between constant terms in threshold resummation (for Deep Inelastic Scattering and the Drell-Yan process) and the second logarithmic derivative of the massless quark form factor. The same relations are checked to all orders in the large beta_0 limit; as a byproduct a dispersive representation of the form factor is obtained. These relations allow to compute in a symmetrical way the three-loop resummation coefficients B_3 and D_3 in terms of the three-loop contributions to the virtual diagonal splitting function and to the quark form factor, confirming results obtained in the literature.Comment: 39 pages, no figure; version 2: same content, but improved presentation, with a new section devoted to the variety of resummation procedures; version 3: journal version, where a remark about the all orders validity of the conjecture in the DIS case is reporte

Nucleon spin structure,topological susceptibility and the η′\eta^\prime singlet axial vector coupling

The observed small value of the first moment of the polarized nucleon spin structure function $g_1$ may be interpreted, in the Veneziano--Shore approach, as a suppression of the first moment $\chi^\prime(0)$ of the QCD topological susceptibility. I give an extension of the Witten--Veneziano argument for the $U(1)$ problem, which yields the $O(1/N)$ correction to the $N = \infty$ relation $\chi^\prime(0)/F^2_0 = 1$ (where $F_0$ is the $\eta^\prime$ axial vector coupling).The correction, although negative, seems too small to account for the data. I further argue that the $(\eta,\eta^\prime)\rightarrow\gamma\gamma$ and $J/\psi\rightarrow (\eta , \eta^\prime)\gamma$ decays indicate an enhancement rather than a suppression of $F_0$. A substantial gluon-like contribution in $\langle 0\vert\partial^\mu j^{(0)}_{\mu_5} \vert\gamma\gamma \rangle \vert_{q^2=0}$,which could parallel a similar one in the corresponding nucleon matrix element,is suggested.Comment: Latex 209,10 pages,no figure

Nonperturbative definition of the pole mass and short distance expansion of the heavy quark potential in QCD

We show that the O(Lambda) ambiguity in the pole mass can be fixed in a natural way by introducing a modified nonperturbative V-scheme momentum space coupling tilde-alphaV(q) where the confining contributions have been subtracted out. The method used is in the spirit of the infrared finite coupling approach to power corrections, and gives a non perturbative definition of the `potential subtracted' mass. The short distance expansion of the static potential is derived, taking into account an hypothetical short distance linear term. The magnitude of the standard OPE contributions are estimated in quenched QCD, based on results of Luscher and Weisz. It is observed that the expansion is not yet reliable at the shortest distances presently measured on the lattice.Comment: 10 pages, JHEP3.cls style; a few misprints corrected. To appear in Physics Letters