A Metric-Theoretic Proof of the Yang-Mills Mass Gap on ℝ⁴
We prove the existence of a strictly positive mass gap for Yang-Mills gauge theory with gauge group SU(3) on ℝ⁴. The proof remains entirely within ℝ⁴ as a topological manifold while introducing a specific conformal metric g = Ω²(p)η whose form is uniquely determined by the Clifford algebra Cl(4) of the manifold and the spectral theory of the associated Laplace-Beltrami operator. Under this metric all Yang-Mills loop integrals converge to the finite value ln(4/3) via a holonomy expansion, with no ultraviolet divergences and no renormalization required: the UV divergence is structurally absent, not cancelled. The mass gap is derived explicitly as Δ = Q_vac × exp(λ₁) = 221.7 MeV, where all quantities are derived from the Clifford structure of ℝ⁴ and the electroweak vacuum with no free parameters. The key tool is the Clifford winding penalty c₂ = 1/4, the normalized trace of a single winding generator in Cl(4), which replaces the divergent UV tower Σ 1/n with the convergent geometric series Σ c₂ⁿ/n = ln(4/3).
Authors
- Timothy Gleason
Publication Details
- Journal
- Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
- Published
- 2026-05-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20450411
- Primary Topic
- Algebraic and Geometric Analysis
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00