  We reformulate the coupled set of continuum equations for the renormalized
gluon and ghost propagators in QCD, such that the multiplicative
renormalizability of the solutions is manifest, independently of the specific
form of full vertices and renormalization constants. In the Landau gauge, the
equations are free of renormalization constants, and the renormalization point
dependence enters only through the renormalized coupling and the renormalized
propagator functions. The structure of the equations enables us to devise novel
truncations with solutions that are multiplicatively renormalizable and agree
with the leading order perturbative results. We show that, for infrared power
law behaved propagators, the leading infrared behavior of the gluon equation is
not solely determined by the ghost loop, as concluded in previous studies, but
that the gluon loop, the three-gluon loop, the four-gluon loop, and even
massless quarks also contribute to the infrared analysis. In our new Landau
gauge truncation, the combination of gluon and ghost loop contributions seems
to reject infrared power law solutions, but massless quark loops illustrate how
additional contributions to the gluon vacuum polarization could reinstate these
solutions. Moreover, a schematic study of the three-gluon and four-gluon loops
shows that they too need to be considered in more detail before a definite
conclusion about the existence of infrared power behaved gluon and ghost
propagators can be reached.
