Analytic Structure of the Landau-Gauge Gluon Propagator

The analytic structure of the nonperturbative gluon propagator contains information on the absence of gluons from the physical spectrum of the theory. We study this structure from numerical solutions in the complex momentum plane of the gluon and ghost Dyson-Schwinger equations in Landau gauge Yang-Mills theory. The resulting ghost and gluon propagators are analytic apart from a distinct cut structure on the real, timelike momentum axis. The propagator violates the Osterwalder-Schrader positivity condition, confirming the absence of gluons from the asymptotic spectrum of the theory. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.252001