Existence of an infrared fixed point in QCD

Establish whether quantum chromodynamics (QCD) possesses an infrared fixed point (IRFP) and ascertain whether physical QCD lies slightly away from this fixed point, as assumed in the Crewther–Tunstall chiral-scale effective field theory framework used to incorporate a dilatonic scalar meson.

Background

The chiral-scale effective field theory employed in this work incorporates a light dilatonic scalar meson as the Nambu–Goldstone boson of (approximate) scale symmetry, following the Crewther–Tunstall framework. This construction hinges on the hypothesis that QCD has an infrared fixed point (IRFP) and that the physical theory operates slightly away from it, generating explicit scale symmetry breaking.

Verifying the existence of an IRFP in QCD and establishing the proximity of real-world QCD to such a fixed point would provide foundational support for the chiral-scale EFT used to model dense and thermal nuclear matter in this work. While some literature is cited as supportive, the assertion is presented as a conjecture in the context of this framework.