The Landau gauge gluon propagator in lattice QCD

A Monte Carlo calculation of the gluon propagator in the Landau gauge in SU(3) lattice gauge theory is described. The results of calculations at β = 5.6 (200 4³ × 8 lattices), β = 5.8 (400 4³ × 10 lattices and 100 6³ × 12 lattices), and β = 6.0 (100 4³ × 8 lattices) indicate that the gluon propagator resembles a massive particle propagator in which the mass grows with separation. At the largest distances accessible with these lattices, the mass is about 600 MeV.