The Leading-Order Charm Quark Contribution to the Next-to-Leading-Order Proton Structure Function Using ${\cal A}=3$ Mirror Nuclei as Input Valence Quarks

Abstract

The charm quark contribution to the proton structure function (SF) is investigated in the leading-order (LO) QCD at small x region. A next-to-leading order (NLO) QCD analysis for the proton SF is made within the \(\overline{MS}\) renormalization scheme of the radiation parton evolution model (DGLAP). The valence quark distribution is obtained from the relativistic quark-exchange calculation for the \({\cal A}=3\) mirror nuclei, i.e., 3He and 3H, which is based on a realistic model. The inverse Mellin technique is performed to extract the parton distribution in the (x, Q 2)-plane. The calculated F 2 c (x, Q 2) and F 2 p (x, Q 2) as well as the longitudinal SF, F L p (x, Q 2) are compared with the experimental data available at present, namely H1, ZEUS, and HERMES at HERA ring as well as other theoretical models, especially the hard pomeron phenomenological model.