Lattice evidence that scalar glueballs are small
Ryan Abbott, Daniel C. Hackett, Dimitra A. Pefkou, Fernando Romero-L贸pez, Phiala E. Shanahan
Published: 2025/8/29
Abstract
This work reports the first calculation of the gravitational form factors (GFFs) of the scalar glueball, performed via lattice field theory in Yang-Mills theory at a single lattice spacing. The glueball GFFs are compared with those of other hadrons as determined in previous lattice calculations, providing strong indications that glueballs have a different gluonic structure than typical hadronic states. A mass radius of 0.263(31) fm is predicted, supporting previous suggestions that the scalar glueball is significantly smaller than other hadrons. These results point towards a potential smoking-gun characteristic to target by experimental glueball searches.