Gauge invariance and a possible mechanism of color confinement

In the framework of the covariant canonical formulation of nonabelian gauge theories, it is shown that the outstanding problem of color confinement may be solved if one proves the existence of bound states in the channels of csup(a)(x)Tsup(a)psi(x) and fsup(abc)Asup(b)sup(μ)(x)csup(c)(x), where the fields csup(a), psi and Asup(a)sub(μ) stand for the Faddeev-Popov ghost, the quark and the gluon, respectively. In the presence of such bound states, irrespectively of their mass values, the gauge invariance (BRS invariance) of the theory automatically ensures that the asymptotic fields of the quark and the gluon decouple from the physical sector by a norm-cancellation mechanism. (Auth.)