Mesons, PANDA and the scalar glueball

Abstract

The non-perturbative nature of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) at low energies has prompted the expectation that the gauge-bosons of QCD -- gluons -- might give rise to compound objects denoted as glueballs. Experimental signals for glueballs have represented a matter of research for various collaborations in the last decades; future research in this direction is a main endeavour planned by the PANDA Collaboration at FAIR. Hence in this article I review some of the outstanding issues in the glueball search, particularly with regard to the ground state -- the scalar glueball, and discuss the relevance for PANDA at FAIR.