Bare Pomeron in four-dimensional quantum chromodynamics

Working in four-dimensional quantum chromodynamics, we solve exactly the renormalized gluon ladder at t=0. This approximation is obtained by reordering the perturbation expansion of the Bethe-Salpeter kernel using the renormalization group. The resulting amplitude has an accumulation of Regge poles at j=+1 in any gauge with gauge-fixing term -(2α)^-1 (∂.A-->)². The existence of this singularity depends only on the short-distance behavior of the forces in the t channel as given by the renormalization group. Further, this singularity couples to hadrons, and is a natural candidate for the bare Pomeron.