Unraveling the organization of the QCD tapestry

Abstract

I review some key aspects of the ongoing progress in our understanding of the infrared dynamics of the QCD Green's functions, derived from the close synergy between Schwinger-Dyson equations and lattice simulations. Particular attention is dedicated to the elaborate nonperturbative mechanisms that endow the fundamental degrees of freedom (quarks and gluons) with dynamical masses. In addition, the recently established connection between the effective interaction obtained from the gauge sector of the theory and that needed for the veracious description of the ground-state properties of hadrons is briefly presented.