The Physics & Astronomy Colloquium Series presents Jozef Dudek of The College of William and Mary on “The Elusive Excited Glue of QCD” on Friday, Oct. 21, at 4:10 p.m. in Walter 245.
Jozef Dudek
Abstract: Quantum Chromodynamics, the theory describing the interactions between quarks and gluons, is generally accepted to be the correct way to describe the strong interactions of hadrons. Unfortunately, at the low energy scales relevant to the study of the spectrum of hadrons, QCD cannot be studied with perturbation theory, and our understanding of the spectrum has, until recently, been dominated by interpretation of experimental results using simplified models. These models typically have the gluons playing only a passive role in binding quarks together into hadrons. I will motivate QCD as the theory of hadron spectroscopy and show how an approach which numerically computes the field theory on a grid of points, known as ‘lattice QCD’, has lead to a new level of understanding. In particular I will show how we are now able to confidently predict the existence of ‘hybrid mesons’ in which the gluon field plays a vital role. The need for further calculations will be outlined as will the experimental landscape in which we hope to soon see discovery of these exotic states of matter.
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