Radial propagators and Wilson loops

We present a relation which connects the propagator in the radial (Fock-Schwinger) gauge with a gauge-invariant Wilson loop. It is closely related to the well-known field strength formula and can be used to calculate the radial gauge propagator. The result is shown to diverge in four-dimensional space even for free fields; its singular nature is, however, naturally explained using the renormalization properties of Wilson loops with cusps and self-intersections. Using this observation we provide a consistent regularization scheme to facilitate loop calculations. Finally, we compare our results with previous approaches to derive a propagator in Fock-Schwinger gauge. copyright 1996 The American Physical Society