Charmonium potentials: Matching perturbative and lattice QCD

Abstract

Central and spin–spin potentials for charmonium, constructed from Nambu–Bethe–Salpeter amplitudes in lattice simulations of full QCD, are matched with results from perturbative QCD at an appropriate distance scale. This matching is made possible by defining the perturbative potentials through Fourier transforms with a low-momentum cutoff. The central (spin-independent) potential is compared with potentials derived from an expansion in powers of the inverse quark mass. A well-controlled continuation of the charmonium spin–spin potential from lattice QCD to short distances is performed. The mass splittings of the charmonium singlet and triplet states below the open charm threshold, obtained from the matched spin–spin potential, are in good agreement with the experimental values.