Combining NNPDF3.0 and NNPDF2.3QED through the APFEL evolution code

Abstract

We present sets of parton distribution functions (PDFs), based on the NNPDF3.0 family, which include the photon PDF from the NNPDF2.3QED sets, and leading-order QED contributions to the DGLAP evolution as implemented in the public code APFEL. The aim is to combine our state-of-the-art determination of quark and gluon PDFs with the so far only direct determination of the photon PDF from LHC data. In addition, the use of APFEL allowed us to employ a solution of the DGLAP equation that, differently from that used for the NNPDF2.3QED sets, includes QED corrections in a more accurate way. We briefly discuss how these sets are constructed and investigate the effect of the inclusion of the QED corrections on PDFs and parton luminosities. Finally, we compare the resulting sets, which we dubbed NNPDF3.0QED, to the older NNPDF2.3QED sets and to all presently available PDF sets that include QED corrections, namely CT14QED and MRST2004QED.