Diagramatic perturbative expansion of QCD

  • Context: Graduate 
  • Thread starter Thread starter Sunset
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Expansion Qcd
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the perturbative expansion of the generating functional of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) expressed through Feynman diagrams. Participants explore the representation of external sources and the combinatorial factors involved in constructing these diagrams.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant asks about the perturbative expansion of the generating functional Z[J, ξ, ξ*, η, η*] in terms of Feynman diagrams, suggesting it may involve a sum of all possible graphs with combinatorial prefactors.
  • Another participant confirms that when sources are attached, there is an additional combinatorial factor of 1/n! for each type of source, where n is the number of that type of source in the diagram.
  • A participant clarifies the notation for different sources: η for quark, J for gluon, and ξ for ghost sources, and describes how these are represented in diagrams.
  • There is a question about whether the generating functional W=lnZ corresponds to the sum of all possible connected diagrams.
  • One participant notes a mistake regarding the requirement for each external point to have a source and corrects their earlier statement.
  • Another participant points out that a specific quark loop with a single gluon attached is zero and emphasizes the importance of getting the combinatorial factors correct.
  • It is reiterated that Z represents the sum of all possible diagrams (both connected and disconnected), while W represents just the connected diagrams.
  • One participant expresses uncertainty about whether the treatment in QCD parallels that in φ^n theory.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree that Z is the sum of all possible diagrams and that W is the sum of connected diagrams. However, there are nuances regarding the combinatorial factors and the representation of sources that remain under discussion.

Contextual Notes

There are unresolved aspects regarding the treatment of colors and flavors in the diagrams, as well as the implications of disconnected graphs in the context of the generating functional.

Sunset
Messages
61
Reaction score
0
Hi!

Has anybody seen the perturbative expansion of the generating functional of QCD [tex]Z[J,\xi,\xi*,\eta,\eta*][/tex] expressed with Feynman diagrams? I mean, there should be an expansion, containing external sources denoted by something like
-------o abbreviation for [tex]i \int d^4 x J[/tex]
-------# abbreviation for [tex]i \int d^4 x \eta[/tex]
and so on...

I haven't found any book showing this.

Is it maybe simply the sum of all possible graphs with their combinatorical prefactors that can be constructed from the Feynman rules?

Best regards Martin
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Sunset said:
Is it maybe simply the sum of all possible graphs with their combinatorical prefactors that can be constructed from the Feynman rules?

Yep. When sources are attached, there is an extra combinatoric factor of 1/n! for each type of source, where n is the number of that type of source that appears in the diagram.
 
Hi Avodyne!

This would be really cool... but I want to make sure, that we mean the same thing:


[tex]\eta[/tex] is the quark source
J the gauge field (gluon) source
[tex]\xi[/tex] the ghost source

quark line is a straight line
ghost line is dottet
gluon line is twidled

[tex]i \int d^4 x \eta[/tex] I draw as a dot
[tex]i \int d^4 x \xi[/tex] as triangle
[tex]i \int d^4 x J[/tex] as box

So Z is equal the little bitmap I attached (up to prefactors and understood that there are infinite many more diagrams i.e. all possible ones ) ? (I didn't take care of colors and flavors, just assume there is only one flavor and one color, if one takes into account more colors then more diagrams...) One would have to draw ALL possible graphs, that means disconnected graphs as the last one, too.

If that is true , is the generating functional W=lnZ also exactly the sum of ALL possible connected diagrams?
 

Attachments

Oh wait, I did a mistake. Understood, each external point should have a source (forgot to draw them)
 
I corrected that one
 

Attachments

For some reason I'm not able to view your 2nd picture. In the first, the quark loop with a single gluon attached is zero. And one has to get the combinatoric factors right. But then, yes, Z is just the sum of all possible diagrams (connected and disconnected), and W=log(Z) is the sum of just the connected diagrams.

This is all explained pretty well for phi^3 theory in the book by Srednicki (google to find a free draft copy online).
 
ok, great!

I wasn't sure if really everything goes the same way as in phi^n theory.

Thanks a lot,

Martin
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 33 ·
2
Replies
33
Views
7K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
1K
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
3K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
1K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
1K