running coupling
Spinning pipe joint
In quantum field theory, a running coupling is a coupling constant whose effective value changes depending on the energy scale at which it's measured.
The "running" refers to how the strength of an interaction—electromagnetic, strong, or weak—varies as particles interact at different energies.
At high energies, the strong coupling constant becomes weaker, a phenomenon called asymptotic freedom.
This energy dependence is calculated using renormalization group equations.
- momentumProduct of mass, velocity
- quarksFundamental hadron components
- gluonsStrong force exchange particles
- strong forceSubatomic binding interaction
- ultravioletWavelengths shorter than violet
infrared · fixed point · perturbation · divergence · virtual particles · flow · evolution · lattice · confinement · threshold
- QCDquarks, gluons, strong force, confinement, antiquarks
- Quantum FieldsQED, quantum fields, electromagnetic field, propagator, propagators
- Renormalizationregularization, cutoff
- Gauge TheoryYang-Mills theory, covariant derivative, connection, parallel transport