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Methodological notes

# The relativistic virial theorem and scale invariance

The virial theorem is related to the dilatation properties of bound states, as seen in particular from the relativistic virial theorem formulated (by Landau and Lifshitz) in terms of the energy-momentum tensor trace. In the Hamiltonian formulation of dilatations we propose here, the relativistic virial theorem naturally arises as a stability condition against dilatations. A bound state becomes scale invariant in the ultrarelativistic limit, in which its energy vanishes. However, for very relativistic bound states, scale invariance is broken by quantum effects, necessitating including the energy-momentum tensor trace anomaly into the virial theorem. This quantum field theory virial theorem is directly related to the Callan — Symanzik equations. The virial theorem is applied to QED and then to QCD, focusing on the hadronic bag model. In massless QCD, 3/4 of the hadron mass corresponds to quarks and gluons and 1/4 to the trace anomaly, according to the virial theorem.

 BibTexBibNote ® (generic)BibNote ® (RIS)Medline RefWorks RT Journal T1 The relativistic virial theorem and scale invariance A1 Gaite,J. PB Physics-Uspekhi PY 2013 FD 10 Sep, 2013 JF Physics-Uspekhi JO Phys. Usp. VO 56 IS 9 SP 919-931 DO 10.3367/UFNe.0183.201309f.0973 LK https://ufn.ru/en/articles/2013/9/e/