AdS/QCD, Light-Front Holography, and the Nonperturbative Running Coupling

The combination of Anti-de Sitter space (AdS) methods with light-front (LF) holography provides a remarkably accurate first approximation for the spectra and wavefunctions of meson and baryon light-quark bound states. The resulting bound-state Hamiltonian equation of motion in QCD leads to relativistic light-front wave equations in terms of an invariant impact variable $\zeta$ which measures the separation of the quark and gluonic constituents within the hadron at equal light-front time. These equations of motion in physical space-time are equivalent to the equations of motion which describe the propagation of spin-$J$ modes in anti--de Sitter (AdS) space. The eigenvalues give the hadronic spectrum, and the eigenmodes represent the probability distributions of the hadronic constituents at a given scale. A positive-sign confining dilaton background modifying AdS space gives a very good account of meson and baryon spectroscopy and form factors. The light-front holographic mapping of this model also leads to a non-perturbative effective coupling $\alpha_s^{AdS}(Q^2)$ which agrees with the effective charge defined by the Bjorken sum rule and lattice simulations. It displays a transition from perturbative to nonperturbative conformal regimes at a momentum scale $\sim 1$ GeV. The resulting $\beta$-function appears to capture the essential characteristics of the full $\beta$-function of QCD, thus giving further support to the application of the gauge/gravity duality to the confining dynamics of strongly coupled QCD.Comment: Invited talk, presented by SJB at SCGT09, 2009 International Workshop on Strong Coupling Gauge Theories in the LHC Era, Nagoya, December 8-11, 2009, updated figur

The QCD Running Coupling

We review the present knowledge for $\alpha_s$, the fundamental coupling underlying the interactions of quarks and gluons in QCD. The dependence of $\alpha_s(Q^2)$ on momentum transfer $Q$ encodes the underlying dynamics of hadron physics -from color confinement in the infrared domain to asymptotic freedom at short distances. We review constraints on $\alpha_s(Q^2)$ at high $Q^2$, as predicted by perturbative QCD, and its analytic behavior at small $Q^2$, based on models of nonperturbative dynamics. In the introductory part of this review, we explain the phenomenological meaning of $\alpha_s$, the reason for its running, and the challenges facing a complete understanding of its analytic behavior in the infrared domain. In the second, more technical, part of the review, we discuss the behavior of $\alpha_s(Q^2)$ in the high $Q^2$ domain of QCD. We review how $\alpha_s$ is defined, including its renormalization scheme dependence, the definition of its renormalization scale, the utility of effective charges, as well as Commensurate Scale Relations which connect the various definitions of $\alpha_s$ without renormalization-scale ambiguity. We also report recent measurements and theoretical analyses which have led to precise QCD predictions at high energy. In the last part of the review, we discuss the challenge of understanding the analytic behavior $\alpha_s(Q^2)$ in the infrared domain. We also review important methods for computing $\alpha_s$, including lattice QCD, the Schwinger-Dyson equations, the Gribov-Zwanziger analysis and light-front holographic QCD. After describing these approaches and enumerating their conflicting predictions, we discuss the origin of these discrepancies and how to remedy them. Our aim is not only to review the advances in this difficult area, but also to suggest what could be an optimal definition of $\alpha_s$ in order to bring better unity to the subject.Comment: Invited review article for Progress in Particle and Nuclear Physics. 195 pages, 18 figures. V3: Minor corrections and addenda compared to V1 and V2. V4: typo fixed in Eq. (3.21

Connecting the Hadron Mass Scale to the Fundamental Mass Scale of Quantum Chromodynamics

Establishing an explicit connection between the long distance physics of confinement and the dynamical interactions of quarks and gluons at short distances has been a long-sought goal of quantum chromodynamics. Using holographic QCD, we derive a direct analytic relation between the scale $\kappa$ which determines the masses of hadrons and the scale $\Lambda_{s}$ which controls the predictions of perturbative QCD at very short distances. The resulting prediction $\Lambda_{s}=0.341\pm0.032$ GeV in the $\overline{MS}$ scheme agrees well with the experimental average $0.339\pm0.016$ GeV. We also derive a relation between $\Lambda_{s}$ and the QCD string tension $\sigma$. This connection between the fundamental hadronic scale underlying the physics of quark confinement and the perturbative QCD scale controlling hard collisions can be carried out in any renormalization scheme.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures. Final version published in Phys. Lett.

Effect of Orbital Angular Momentum on Valence-Quark Helicity Distributions

We study the quark helicity distributions at large x in perturbative QCD, taking into account contributions from the valence Fock states of the nucleon which have nonzero orbital angular momentum. These states are necessary to have a nonzero anomalous magnetic moment. We find that the quark orbital angular momentum contributes a large logarithm to the negative helicity quark distributions in addition to its power behavior, scaling as (1-x)^5\log^2(1-x) in the limit of x\to 1. Our analysis shows that the ratio of the polarized over unpolarized down quark distributions, \Delta d/d, will still approach 1 in this limit. By comparing with the experimental data, we find that this ratio should cross zero at x\approx 0.75.Comment: 10 pages, 3 eps figure

Applied analytical combustion/emissions research at the NASA Lewis Research Center

Emissions of pollutants from future commercial transports are a significant concern. As a result, the Lewis Research Center (LeRC) is investigating various low emission combustor technologies. As part of this effort, a combustor analysis code development program was pursued to guide the combustor design process, to identify concepts having the greatest promise, and to optimize them at the lowest cost in the minimum time

Submerged dunes of Northeastern Eyre Peninsula : an investigation into the age, origin and palaeoclimatic implications of relict aeolian landforms

Theses (M.A.) -- University of Adelaide, Dept. of Geography, 1984