Abstract

We present a specific class of models for an infrared-finite analytic QCD coupling, such that at large spacelike energy scales the coupling differs from the perturbative one by less than any inverse power of the energy scale. This condition is motivated by the Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics operator product expansion philosophy. Allowed by the ambiguity in the analytization of the perturbative coupling, the proposed class of couplings has three parameters. In the intermediate energy region, the proposed coupling has low loop-level and renormalization scheme dependence. The present modification of perturbative QCD must be considered as a phenomenological attempt, with the aim of enlarging the applicability range of the theory of the strong interactions at low energies. © 2008 The American Physical Society.