Scientists / Open questions

H. David Politzer

Quantum field theory; quantum chromodynamics

2004 Nobel Prize in Physics

27 questions

The soft frontier of QCD factorization: wee partons, total hadron-hadron cross sections, and the non-perturbative foundation of the parton model
Nonperturbative condensate input of the QCD operator product expansion: four-quark condensates and the accuracy of vacuum saturation
First-principles completion of the De Rújula–Georgi–Politzer local-duality test of QCD in electroproduction: nonperturbative matrix elements $A_n$ and $B_{nk}$ , the gluon sector at small $\xi$ , and parameter-free predictions for $R$ , the large- $\xi$ structure-function tail, and elastic form factors
Nonperturbative completion of the Georgi-Politzer electroproduction scaling program: first-principles matrix elements, higher twist, and the physical small- $x$ limit in QCD
Angular redistribution of Bose-stimulated light scattering in realistic degenerate Bose gases: interactions, traps, and the low-heating small-angle probe
First-principles QCD origin of local (Bloom–Gilman) duality and precocious scaling in the nucleon resonance region
Quantum dynamics with closed timelike curves beyond the exactly solvable flat model: pure-state evolution with particle production, surviving conservation laws, and information measures for non-unitary evolution
Nonperturbative completion of the inclusive $\bar B\to X_s\gamma$ prediction: resolved-photon contributions and the prospects for a clean determination of the chromomagnetic coefficient $C_8$
Fixed-N statistics of a trapped Bose gas: analytic finite-N theory of the canonical and microcanonical ensembles and the interaction-versus-constraint crossover for condensate fluctuations
Charged pion condensation in dense neutron matter: robustness of the chiral-limit stability criterion of Montano, Politzer, and Wise and the physical-pion-mass question
Brane setups for the exceptional-series orbifold gauge theories: the $\mathbb{Z}_3$ generalization of the orientifold plane
Infrared fate of asymptotically free Yang-Mills theories: strong-coupling sign of the beta function, mass gap and confinement, and dynamical symmetry breaking (the 1973 Politzer question)
Universality of Wigner–Dyson level statistics for smooth random-matrix ensembles beyond the unitary class (β=1, β=4, and continuous β)
Nonperturbative limits of the Drell–Yan picture in QCD: factorization and universality at very small x and very small transverse momentum
Bose-stimulated scattering off a cold atom trap: quantitative light scattering by a finite trapped degenerate Bose gas beyond the optically thin, ideal-gas, semiclassical limit
All-orders QCD factorization in the $\beta\to 0$ (Regge/high-energy) limit for hard processes with incoming hadrons
Rigorous foundation of the Cline-Politzer-Rey-Wise high-peak asymptotics for Gaussian random fields: asymptoticity of the 1/T expansion, the all-orders multiplicative factorization conjecture, and the exact negative-definite Hessian constraint
Self-consistent dissipative response of near-resonant light incident on a dilute-gas Bose-Einstein condensate
Glueball-quark-meson mixing and glueball decay widths from unquenched lattice QCD, and their confrontation with experiment: an unresolved question posed by Politzer's 1982 chiral analysis of the quenched approximation
Kaon condensation in cold dense baryonic matter: systematic chiral corrections, sigma-term uncertainty, and whether the charged kaon is the first instability
Validity and scope of generalized factorization for power-suppressed corrections to hard scattering in QCD
Power-suppressed corrections to factorization in class-I two-body decays $\bar B\to D^{(*)}\pi$ : completing the Politzer-Wise program
Precision lattice QCD determination of the $K\to\pi\pi$ decay amplitudes, the $\Delta I=1/2$ rule, and $\varepsilon'/\varepsilon$
Completing the optimized perturbation theory program for factorization- and mass-scheme dependence in finite-order perturbative QCD

Back to open problems

The soft frontier of QCD factorization: wee partons, total hadron-hadron cross sections, and the non-perturbative foundation of the parton model

Nonperturbative condensate input of the QCD operator product expansion: four-quark condensates and the accuracy of vacuum saturation

Nonperturbative completion of the Georgi-Politzer electroproduction scaling program: first-principles matrix elements, higher twist, and the physical small-xxx limit in QCD

Angular redistribution of Bose-stimulated light scattering in realistic degenerate Bose gases: interactions, traps, and the low-heating small-angle probe

First-principles QCD origin of local (Bloom–Gilman) duality and precocious scaling in the nucleon resonance region

Quantum dynamics with closed timelike curves beyond the exactly solvable flat model: pure-state evolution with particle production, surviving conservation laws, and information measures for non-unitary evolution

Nonperturbative completion of the inclusive Bˉ→Xsγ\bar B\to X_s\gammaBˉ→Xs​γ prediction: resolved-photon contributions and the prospects for a clean determination of the chromomagnetic coefficient C8C_8C8​

Fixed-N statistics of a trapped Bose gas: analytic finite-N theory of the canonical and microcanonical ensembles and the interaction-versus-constraint crossover for condensate fluctuations

Charged pion condensation in dense neutron matter: robustness of the chiral-limit stability criterion of Montano, Politzer, and Wise and the physical-pion-mass question

Brane setups for the exceptional-series orbifold gauge theories: the Z3\mathbb{Z}_3Z3​ generalization of the orientifold plane

Infrared fate of asymptotically free Yang-Mills theories: strong-coupling sign of the beta function, mass gap and confinement, and dynamical symmetry breaking (the 1973 Politzer question)

Universality of Wigner–Dyson level statistics for smooth random-matrix ensembles beyond the unitary class (β=1, β=4, and continuous β)

Nonperturbative limits of the Drell–Yan picture in QCD: factorization and universality at very small x and very small transverse momentum

Bose-stimulated scattering off a cold atom trap: quantitative light scattering by a finite trapped degenerate Bose gas beyond the optically thin, ideal-gas, semiclassical limit

All-orders QCD factorization in the β→0\beta\to 0β→0 (Regge/high-energy) limit for hard processes with incoming hadrons

Rigorous foundation of the Cline-Politzer-Rey-Wise high-peak asymptotics for Gaussian random fields: asymptoticity of the 1/T expansion, the all-orders multiplicative factorization conjecture, and the exact negative-definite Hessian constraint

Self-consistent dissipative response of near-resonant light incident on a dilute-gas Bose-Einstein condensate

Glueball-quark-meson mixing and glueball decay widths from unquenched lattice QCD, and their confrontation with experiment: an unresolved question posed by Politzer's 1982 chiral analysis of the quenched approximation

Kaon condensation in cold dense baryonic matter: systematic chiral corrections, sigma-term uncertainty, and whether the charged kaon is the first instability

Validity and scope of generalized factorization for power-suppressed corrections to hard scattering in QCD

Power-suppressed corrections to factorization in class-I two-body decays Bˉ→D(∗)π\bar B\to D^{(*)}\piBˉ→D(∗)π: completing the Politzer-Wise program

Precision lattice QCD determination of the K→ππK\to\pi\piK→ππ decay amplitudes, the ΔI=1/2\Delta I=1/2ΔI=1/2 rule, and ε′/ε\varepsilon'/\varepsilonε′/ε

Completing the optimized perturbation theory program for factorization- and mass-scheme dependence in finite-order perturbative QCD

Nonperturbative completion of the Georgi-Politzer electroproduction scaling program: first-principles matrix elements, higher twist, and the physical small- $x$ limit in QCD

Nonperturbative completion of the inclusive $\bar B\to X_s\gamma$ prediction: resolved-photon contributions and the prospects for a clean determination of the chromomagnetic coefficient $C_8$

Brane setups for the exceptional-series orbifold gauge theories: the $\mathbb{Z}_3$ generalization of the orientifold plane

All-orders QCD factorization in the $\beta\to 0$ (Regge/high-energy) limit for hard processes with incoming hadrons

Power-suppressed corrections to factorization in class-I two-body decays $\bar B\to D^{(*)}\pi$ : completing the Politzer-Wise program

Precision lattice QCD determination of the $K\to\pi\pi$ decay amplitudes, the $\Delta I=1/2$ rule, and $\varepsilon'/\varepsilon$