QCD sum rules with nonlocal condensates and the spacelike pion form factor

We present a detailed investigation of the spacelike pion's electromagnetic form factor using three-point QCD sum rules that exclusively involve nonlocal condensates. Our main methodological tools are a spectral density which includes $O(\alpha_s)$ corrections, a suitably improved Gaussian ansatz to model the distribution of the average momentum of quarks in the QCD vacuum, and a perturbative scheme that avoids Landau singularities. Using this framework, we obtain predictions for the pion form factor together with error estimates originating from intrinsic theoretical uncertainties owing to the perturbative expansion and the nonperturbative method applied. We also discuss our results in comparison with other calculations, in particular, with those following from the AdS/QCD correspondence. We find good agreement of our predictions with measurements in the range of momenta covered by the existing experimental data between 1-10 GeV$^2$.