Slavnov-Taylor1.0: A Mathematica package for computation in BRST formalism

Slavnov-Taylor 1.0 is a Mathematica package which allows us to perform automatic symbolic computation in BRST formalism. This article serves as a self-contained guide to prospective users, and indicates the conventions and approximations used.Comment: 1+11 pages, 2 figures, LaTeX graphicx package used; accepted for publication in Computer Physics Communication

Dimension two gluon condensates in a variety of gauges and a gauge invariant Yang-Mills action with a mass

We give a short overview of our work concerning the dimension two operator A^2 in the Landau gauge and its generalizations to other gauges. We conclude by discussing recent work that leads to a renormalizable gauge invariant action containing a mass parameter, based on the operator F 1/D^2 F.Comment: 4 pages. espcrc2.sty is used. Talk given at "13th International Conference In QCD (QCD 06), 3-7 Jul 2006, Montpellier, France

Renormalization properties of the mass operator A^2 in three dimensional Yang-Mills theories in the Landau gauge

Massive renormalizable Yang-Mills theories in three dimensions are analysed within the algebraic renormalization in the Landau gauge. In analogy with the four dimensional case, the renormalization of the mass operator A^2 turns out to be expressed in terms of the fields and coupling constant renormalization factors. We verify the relation we obtain for the operator anomalous dimension by explicit calculations in the large N_f. The generalization to other gauges such as the nonlinear Curci-Ferrari gauge is briefly outlined.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figure

Equivalence between Zwanziger's horizon function and Gribov's no-pole ghost form factor

The ghost form factor entering the Gribov no-pole condition is evaluated till the third order in the gauge fields. The resulting expression turns out to coincide with Zwanziger's horizon function implementing the restriction to the Gribov region in the functional integral.Comment: 9 pp. No figures. Final version to appear in Physics Letters

Nonperturbative ghost dynamics in the maximal Abelian gauge

We construct the effective potential for the ghost condensate in the maximal Abelian gauge. This condensate is an order parameter for a global continuous symmetry, which is spontaneously broken since a nonvanishing value of lowers the vacuum energy. The associated Goldstone mode turns out to be unphysical.Comment: 16 pages. v2: version accepted for publication in JHE

Confining gauge theories and holographic entanglement entropy with a magnetic field

We consider the soft wall model for a heuristic holographical modelling of a confining gauge theory and discuss how the introduction of a (constant) magnetic field influences the (de)confinement phase structure. We use the entanglement entropy as a diagnostic tool in terms of the length of an entangling strip geometry. Due to the anisotropy introduced by the magnetic field, we find that the results depend on the orientation of the strip relative to the field. This allows to identify a richer, anisotropic, interplay between confinement and a magnetic field than possibly can be extracted from a more standard order parameter as, for example, the Polyakov loop expectation value.Comment: 25 pages, 31 figure

Thermal entropy of a quark-antiquark pair above and below deconfinement from a dynamical holographic QCD model

We discuss the entropy carried by a quark-antiquark pair, in particular across the deconfinement transition. We therefore rely on a self-consistent solution to Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton gravity, capable of mimicking essential features of QCD. In particular we introduce a novel model that still captures well the QCD confinement and deconfinement phases, while allowing the introduction of a temperature in a phase which resembles the confined phase, this thanks to it being dual to a small black hole. We pay due attention to some subtleties of such a model. We confirm the lattice picture of a strong build-up of thermal entropy towards the critical temperature T-c, both coming from below or above T-c. We also include a chemical potential, confirming this entropic picture and we consider its effect on the speed of sound. Moreover, the temperature dependent confinement phase from the holography side allows us to find a string tension that does not vanish at T-c, a finding also supported by lattice QCD

A magnetic instability of the non-Abelian Sakai-Sugimoto model

In this follow-up paper of 1105.2217 we further discuss the occurrence of a magnetically induced tachyonic instability of the rho meson in the two-flavour Sakai-Sugimoto model, uplifting two remaining approximations in the previous paper. That is, firstly, the magnetically induced splitting of the branes is now taken into account, evaluating without approximations the symmetrized trace which enters in the non-Abelian Dirac-Born-Infeld (DBI) action. This leads to an extra mass generating effect for the charged heavy-light rho meson through a holographic Higgs mechanism. Secondly, we compare the results in the approximation to second order in the field strength to the results using the full DBI-action. Both improvements cause an increase of the critical magnetic field for the onset of rho meson condensation. In addition, the stability in the scalar sector in the presence of the magnetic field is discussed.Comment: 42 pages, v2: version accepted for publication in JHE

Veneziano ghost, modified gluon propagator, and gauge copies in QCD

In this short note, we come back to the recent proposal put forward by Kharzeev and Levin [Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 242001 (2015)], in which they phenomenologically couple the nonperturbative Veneziano ghost to the perturbative gluon, leading to a modified gluon propagator (the "glost") of the Gribov type, with complex poles. As such, a possible link was made between the QCD topological theta-vacuum (Veneziano ghost) and color confinement (no physically observable gluons). We discuss some subtleties concerning gauge (Becchi-Rouet-Stora-Tuytin) invariance of this proposal, related to the choice of Feynman gauge. We draw particular attention to the incompatibility in the longitudinal sector with available nonperturbative results for the linear covariant gauge. We furthermore provide an example in the Landau gauge of a similar phenomenological vertex that also describes the necessary Veneziano ghost but does not affect the Landau gauge gluon propagator

Gauge copies in the Landau-DeWitt gauge : a background invariant restriction

The Landau background gauge, also known as the Landau-DeWitt gauge, has found renewed interest during the past decade given its usefulness in accessing the confinement-deconfinement transition via the vacuum expectation value of the Polyakov loop, describable via an appropriate background. In this Letter, we revisit this gauge from the viewpoint of it displaying gauge (Gribov) copies. We generalize the Gribov-Zwanziger effective action in a BRST and background invariant way; this action leads to a restriction on the allowed gauge fluctuations, thereby eliminating the infinitesimal background gauge copies. The explicit background invariance of our action is in contrast with earlier attempts to write down and use an effective Gribov-Zwanziger action. It allows to address certain subtleties arising in these earlier works, such as a spontaneous and thus spurious Lorentz symmetry breaking, something which is now averted