However, upon quantization, logarithmic divergences in one-loop diagrams of perturbation theory imply that this "constant" actually depends on the typical energy scale of the processes under considerations, called the renormalization group (RG) scale.
This "running" of the coupling is specified by the beta function of the renormalization group.
Consequently, the interaction may be characterised by a dimensionful parameter Λ, namely the value of the RG scale at which the coupling constant diverges.
In the case of quantum chromodynamics, this energy scale Λ is called the QCD scale, and its value 220 MeV supplants the role of the original dimensionless coupling constant in the form of the logarithm (at one-loop) of the ratio μ and Λ. Perturbation theory, which produced this type of running formula, is only valid for a (dimensionless) coupling g ≪ 1.
This is also a way of saying that the conformal symmetry of the classical theory is anomalously broken upon quantization, thereby setting up a mass scale.