Renormalons

Abstract

A certain pattern of divergence of perturbative expansions in quantum field theories, related to their small and large momentum behaviour, is known as renormalons. We review formal and phenomenological aspects of renormalon divergence. We first summarize what is known about ultraviolet and infrared renormalons from an analysis of Feynman diagrams. Because infrared renormalons probe large distances, they are closely connected with non-perturbative power corrections in asymptotically free theories such as QCD. We discuss this aspect of the renormalon phenomenon in various contexts, and in particular the successes and failures of renormalon-inspired models of power corrections to hard processes in QCD.