A new approach to analytic, non-perturbative and gauge-invariant QCD
Following a previous calculation of quark scattering in eikonal approximation, this paper presents a new, analytic and rigorous approach to the calculation of QCD phenomena. In this formulation a basic distinction between the conventional 'idealistic' description of QCD and a more 'realistic' description is brought into focus by a non-perturbative, gauge-invariant evaluation of the Schwinger solution for the QCD generating functional in terms of the exact Fradkin representations of Green's functional G{sub c}(x,y|A) and the vacuum functional L[A]. Because quarks exist asymptotically only in bound states, their transverse coordinates can never be measured with arbitrary precision; the non-perturbative neglect of this statement leads to obstructions that are easily corrected by invoking in the basic Lagrangian a probability amplitude which describes such transverse imprecision. The second result of this non-perturbative analysis is the appearance of a new and simplifying output called 'Effective Locality', in which the interactions between quarks by the exchange of a 'gluon bundle'-which 'bundle' contains an infinite number of gluons, including cubic and quartic gluon interactions-display an exact locality property that reduces the several functional integrals of the formulation down to a set of ordinary integrals. It should be emphasized that 'non-perturbative' here refers to the effective summation of all gluons between a pair of quark lines-which may be the same quark line, as in a self-energy graph-but does not (yet) include a summation over all closed-quark loops which are tied by gluon-bundle exchange to the rest of the 'Bundle Diagram'. As an example of the power of these methods we offer as a first analytic calculation the quark-antiquark binding potential of a pion, and the corresponding three-quark binding potential of a nucleon, obtained in a simple way from relevant eikonal scattering approximations. A second calculation, analytic, non-perturbative and gauge-invariant, of a nucleon-nucleon binding potential to form a model deuteron, will appear separately. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer An analytic, non-perturbative and gauge-invariant formulation for QCD processes. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer A new property called Effective Locality appears in the QCD fermionic amplitudes. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer An effective quark-antiquark and 3-quark binding potential is obtained. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer A single 'gluon bundle' replaces the sum of an infinite number of Feynman graphs.