Parton Distribution Amplitudes Research Articles

Heavy flavor-asymmetric pseudoscalar mesons on the light front

We extract the leading Fock-state light front wave functions of heavy flavor-asymmetric pseudoscalar mesons D, B, and Bc from their Bethe-Salpeter wave functions, based on the Dyson-Schwinger equations approach. We then study their leading-twist parton distribution amplitudes, generalized parton distribution functions, and transverse momentum-dependent parton distributions. The spatial distributions of the quark and antiquark on the transverse plane are presented, along with their charge and energy distributions on the light front. We find that in the considered mesons, the heavier quarks carry most of the longitudinal momentum fraction, resulting in narrow x distributions, while the lighter quarks play an active role in shaping the transverse distributions in both spatial and momentum space, exhibiting a duality that embodies characteristics of both light mesons and heavy quarkonium. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Algebraic model to study the internal structure of pseudoscalar mesons with heavy-light quark content

The internal structure of all lowest-lying pseudoscalar mesons with heavy-light quark content is studied in detail using an algebraic model that has been applied recently, and successfully, to the same physical observables of pseudoscalar and vector mesons with hidden-flavor quark content, from light to heavy quark sectors. The algebraic model consists on constructing simple and evidence-based of the meson’s Bethe-Salpeter amplitude (BSA) and quark’s propagator in such a way that the Bethe-Salpeter wave function (BSWF) can then be readily computed algebraically. Its subsequent projection onto the light front yields the light front wave function (LFWF) whose form allows us a simple access to the valence-quark parton distribution amplitude (PDA) by integrating over the transverse momentum squared. We exploit our current knowledge of the PDAs of lowest-lying pseudoscalar heavy-light mesons to compute their generalized parton distributions (GPDs) through the overlap representation of LFWFs. From these three dimensional knowledge, different limits/projections lead us to deduce the related parton distribution functions (PDFs), electromagnetic form factors (EFFs), and impact parameter space GPDs (IPS-GPDs). When possible, we make explicit comparisons with available experimental results and earlier theoretical predictions. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Light-front wave functions of vector mesons in an algebraic model

Inspired by the recent development of an algebraic model which provides an adequate and unified description of the internal structure of the lowest-lying pseudoscalar mesons, belonging both to the light quarks sector and to the one of heavy quarks, we perform its first extension to the vector-meson case. The algebraic model describes the meson's structure in terms of the spectral density function that appears in a Nakanishi integral representation of the covariant quark-antiquark bound-state amplitude, i.e., the Bethe-Salpeter amplitude. We compute the leading-twist light-front wave functions of the $\ensuremath{\rho}(770)$, $\ensuremath{\phi}(1020)$, $J/\ensuremath{\psi}$, and $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Upsilon}}(1S)$ mesons through their connection with the parton distribution amplitudes. Among the results we present, the following are of particular interest: (i) transverse light-front wave functions can be obtained algebraically from the corresponding parton distribution amplitudes, whereas that is not the case for longitudinal light-front wave functions, which requires an intermediate step where a spectral density function must be derived from the particular parton distribution amplitude; (ii) the derived spectral density functions show marked differences between light and heavy vector mesons, the latter being narrower as compared to the former, and these are also nonpositive definite, although the integral over the entire curve is larger than zero as expected; and (iii) the longitudinal and transverse light-front wave functions of vector mesons with light quark content exhibit steep $x$ and ${p}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}^{2}$ dependence, while those of the $J/\ensuremath{\psi}$ and $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Upsilon}}(1S)$ mesons are characterized by narrow distributions in the $x$ range but, comparatively, much more gradual falloffs with respect to the ${p}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}^{2}$ range depicted.

Pion spectroscopy and dynamics using the holographic light-front Schrödinger equation and the 't Hooft equation

We show that the holographic Schrödinger equation of light-front chiral QCD, together with the 't Hooft equation of (1+1)-dimensional QCD in the large Nc limit, can simultaneously describe pion spectroscopy as well as the pion decay constant, charge radius, electromagnetic form factor, photon-to-pion transition form factor, Parton Distribution Function (PDF) and Distribution Amplitude (DA). Furthermore, the chiral-limit constraints, as encoded in the Gell-Mann-Oakes-Renner (GMOR) relation, are satisfied.

Internal structure of pion and kaon: an algebraic model and its implications

We describe an algebraic approach to address aspects of the structure of pseudo-scalar mesons through their corresponding generalized parton distributions, from which parton distribution functions and electromagnetic form factors can be derived. A direct relation between such distributions and the so-called parton distribution amplitudes can be established since the generalized parton distributions are obtained from the overlap of light-front wave functions.

Ground state pseudoscalar mesons on the light front: From the light to heavy sector

We extract the leading Fock-state light front wave functions (LF-LFWFs) of both the light and heavy pseudoscalar mesons, e.g., the pion (at masses of 130 MeV, 310 MeV and 690 MeV), $\eta_c$ and $\eta_b$, from their covariant Bethe-Salpeter wave functions within the rainbow-ladder (RL) truncation. It is shown that the LF-LFWFs get narrower in $x$ (the longitudinal momentum fraction of meson carried by the quark) with the increasing current quark mass, and the leading twist parton distribution amplitudes (PDAs) inherit this feature. Meanwhile, we find in the pion the LF-LFWFs only contribute around 30\% to the total Fock-state normalization, indicating the presence of significant higher Fock-states within. In contrast, in the $\eta_c$ and $\eta_b$ the LF-LFWFs contribute more than $90$\%, suggesting the $Q\bar{Q}$ valence Fock-state truncation as a good approximation for heavy mesons. We thus study the 3-dimensional parton distributions of the $\eta_c$ and $\eta_b$ with the unpolarized generalized parton distribution function (GPD) and the transverse momentum dependent parton distribution function (TMD). Through the gravitational form factors in connection with the GPD, the mass radii of the $\eta_c$ and $\eta_b$ in the light-cone frame are determined to be $r_{E,{\rm LC}}^{\eta_c} =0.150$ fm and $r_{E,{\rm LC}}^{\eta_b} =0.089$ fm respectively.

Pion generalized parton distributions and light-front wave functions in the Nambu–Jona-Lasinio model

Pion generalized parton distributions and light-front wave functions are investigated in the framework of Nambu–Jona-Lasinio model. The properties of pion generalized parton distributions and light-front wave functions are examined separately. Proceeding from generalized parton distributions and light-front wave functions to form factors, parton distribution functions, parton distribution amplitudes and transverse momentum dependent parton distributions, giving a complete picture of pion structure. Moreover, comparing these distributions from the two different methods and examining their peculiarities, finding that the two methods give the same distributions. This means that generalized parton distributions and light-front wave functions give the same multi-dimensional mapping of pion in the Nambu–Jona-Lasinio model. In addition, we studied generalized form factors of pion: the quark pressure distribution θ1 and the quark mass distribution θ2, both are harder than electromagnetic form factor. The tensor anomalous magnetic moment B1,0 and the tensor generalized form factor B2,0 are harder than corresponding lattice data.

Light mesons within the basis light-front quantization framework

We study the light-unflavored mesons as relativistic bound states in the nonperturbative Hamiltonian formalism of the basis light-front quantization (BLFQ) approach. The dynamics for the valence quarks of these mesons is specified by an effective Hamiltonian containing the one-gluon exchange interaction and the confining potentials both introduced in our previous work on heavy quarkonia, supplemented additionally by a pseudoscalar contact interaction. We diagonalize this Hamiltonian in our basis function representation to obtain the mass spectrum and the light-front wave functions (LFWFs). Based on these LFWFs, we then study the structure of these mesons by computing the electromagnetic form factors, the decay constants, the parton distribution amplitudes (PDAs), and the parton distribution functions (PDFs). Our results are comparable to those from experiments and other theoretical models.

Frame-independent spatial coordinate z̃ : Implications for light-front wave functions, deep inelastic scattering, light-front holography, and lattice QCD calculations

A general procedure for obtaining frame-independent three-dimensional light-front coordinate-space wave functions is introduced. The third spatial coordinate $\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{z}$ is the boost and Lorentz frame-independent coordinate conjugate to the light-front momentum coordinate $x=\frac{{k}^{+}}{{P}^{+}}$ which appears in the momentum-space light-front wave functions underlying generalized parton distributions, structure functions, distribution amplitudes, form factors, and other hadronic observables. These causal light-front coordinate-space wave functions are used to derive a general expression for the quark distribution function of hadrons as an integral over the frame-independent longitudinal distance (the Ioffe time) between virtual-photon absorption and emission appearing in the forward virtual photon-hadron Compton scattering amplitude. Specific examples using models derived from light-front holographic QCD show that the spatial extent of the proton eigenfunction in the longitudinal direction can have a very large extent in $\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{z}$.

Pion and kaon parton distributions in the QCD instanton vacuum

We discuss a general diagrammatic description of n-point functions in the QCD instanton vacuum that resums planar diagrams, enforces gauge invariance and spontaneously broken chiral symmetry. We use these diagrammatic rules to derive the pion and kaon quasi-parton amplitude and distribution functions at leading order in the instanton packing fraction for large but finite momentum. The instanton and anti-instanton zero modes and non-zero modes are found to contribute to the quasi-distributions, but the latter are shown to drop out in the large momentum limit. The pertinent pion and kaon parton distribution amplitudes and functions are made explicit at the low renormalization scale fixed by the inverse instanton size. Assuming that factorization holds, the pion parton distributions are evolved to higher renormalization scales with one-loop DGLAP and compared to existing data.

Tomography of light mesons in the light-cone quark model

We investigate the tomographical structure of pion and kaon in light cone quark model (LCQM). In particular, we study the parton distribution amplitude (PDA) of pion and kaon. We obtain the parton distribution function (PDF) and the generalized parton distributions (GPDs) of the pion and kaon. The valence quark PDA and PDF of pion, after QCD evolution, are found to be consistent with the data from the E791 and the E615 experiments at Fermilab, respectively. Further, we investigate the transverse momentum distributions (TMDs) of pion and kaon. We also discuss the unpolarized TMD evolution for pion and kaon in this model.

Heavy-light mesons on the light front

We study the heavy-light mesons within basis light-front quantization. The resulting mass spectra of D, D_s, B, and B_s agree reasonably well with experiments. We also predict states which could be measured in the near future. In the light-front formalism, we calculate the light-front wave functions and additional experimental observables, such as parton distribution functions, distribution amplitudes, and decay constants by means of integrations over light-front wave functions. We also provide ratios of decay constants for selected pseudoscalar meson decays (D_s to D and B_s to B) as they may prove to be theoretically more robust and more reliably determined in experiments. We find that our ratios are systematically smaller than existing experiments and other approaches by 5–18%.

Reconstructing parton distribution functions from Ioffe time data: from Bayesian methods to neural networks

The computation of the parton distribution functions (PDF) or distribution amplitudes (DA) of hadrons from first principles lattice QCD constitutes a central open problem in high energy nuclear physics. In this study, we present and evaluate the efficiency of several numerical methods, well established in the study of inverse problems, to reconstruct the full x-dependence of PDFs. Our starting point are the so called Ioffe time PDFs, which are accessible from Euclidean time simulations in conjunction with a matching procedure. Using realistic mock data tests, we find that the ill-posed incomplete Fourier transform underlying the reconstruction requires careful regularization, for which both the Bayesian approach as well as neural networks are efficient and flexible choices.

Basis light front quantization for the charged light mesons with color singlet Nambu–Jona-Lasinio interactions

We apply the basis light front quantization (BLFQ) approach to describe the valence structures of the charged light meson ground states. Specifically, the light front wavefunctions of $\pi^\pm$, $\rho^\pm$, $K^\pm$, and $K^{*\pm}$ are obtained as the eigenvectors of the light front effective Hamiltonians with confinement potentials supplemented by the color singlet Nambu--Jona-Lasinio (NJL) interactions. We adjust our model such that the spectrum of these ground states and the charge radii of the pseudoscalar states agree with experimental results. We present the elastic form factors and parton distribution amplitudes (PDAs) as illustrations of the internal structures of the pseudoscalar pions and kaons in terms of valence quarks.

Dynamical spin effects in the holographic light-front wavefunctions of light pseudoscalar mesons

We quantify the importance of dynamical spin effects in the holographic light-front wavefunctions of the pion, kaon, $\eta$ and $\eta^\prime$. Using a universal AdS/QCD scale and constituent quark masses, we find that such effects are maximal in the pion where they lead to an excellent simultaneous description of a wide range of data: the decay constant, charge radius, spacelike EM and transition form factors, as well as, after QCD evolution, both the parton distribution function and the parton distribution amplitude data from Fermilab. These dynamical spin effects lead up to a $30\%$ chance of finding the valence quark and antiquark with aligned spins in the pion. The situation is very different for the kaon, where a simultaneous description of the available data (decay constant, radius and spacelike EM form factor) prefer no dynamical spin effects at all. The situation is less clear for the $\eta$ and $\eta^\prime$: while their radiative decay widths data are consistent with dynamical spin effects only in $\eta^\prime$, the data on their spacelike transition form factors clearly favor maximal dynamical spin effects in both mesons.

Parton distribution amplitudes: Revealing correlations within the proton and Roper

Constrained by solutions of the continuum three-valence-body bound-state equations, we use perturbation theory integral representations (PTIRs) to develop algebraic Ansätze for the Faddeev wave functions of the proton and its first radial excitation, delivering therewith a quantum field theory calculation of the pointwise behaviour of their leading-twist parton distribution amplitudes (PDAs). The proton's PDA is a broad, concave function, with its maximum shifted relative to the peak in QCD's conformal limit expression for this PDA. The size and direction of this shift signal the presence of both scalar and pseudovector diquark correlations in the nucleon, with the scalar generating around 60% of the proton's normalisation. The radial-excitation is constituted similarly, and the pointwise form of its PDA, which is negative on a material domain, is the result of marked interferences between the contributions from both types of diquark; particularly, the locus of zeros that highlights its character as a radial excitation. These features originate with the emergent phenomenon of dynamical chiral-symmetry breaking in the Standard Model.

Pion and kaon valence-quark parton quasidistributions

Algebraic Ansaetze for the Poincar\'e-covariant Bethe-Salpeter wave functions of the pion and kaon are used to calculate their light-front wave functions (LFWFs), parton distribution amplitudes (PDAs), quasi-PDAs (qPDAs), valence parton distribution functions (PDFs), and quasi-PDFs (qPDFs). The LFWFs are broad, concave functions; and the scale of flavour-symmetry violation in the kaon is roughly 15%, being set by the ratio of emergent masses in the $s$-and $u$-quark sectors. qPDAs computed with longitudinal momentum $P_z =1.75\,$GeV provide a semiquantitatively accurate representation of the objective PDA; but even with $P_z=3\,$GeV, they cannot provide information about this amplitude's endpoint behaviour. On the valence-quark domain, similar outcomes characterise qPDFs. In this connection, however, the ratio of kaon-to-pion $u$-quark qPDFs is found to provide a good approximation to the true PDF ratio on $0.3\lesssim x \lesssim 0.8$, suggesting that with existing resources computations of ratios of quasi-parton-distributions can yield results that support empirical comparison.

Nucleon Viewed as a Borromean Bound-State

We explain how the emergent phenomenon of dynamical chiral symmetry breaking ensures that Poincar\'e covariant analyses of the three valence-quark scattering problem in continuum quantum field theory yield a picture of the nucleon as a Borromean bound-state, in which binding arises primarily through the sum of two separate contributions. One involves aspects of the non-Abelian character of Quantum Chromodynamics that are expressed in the strong running coupling and generate tight, dynamical color-antitriplet quark-quark correlations in the scalar-isoscalar and pseudovector-isotriplet channels. This attraction is magnified by quark exchange associated with diquark breakup and reformation, which is required in order to ensure that each valence-quark participates in all diquark correlations to the complete extent allowed by its quantum numbers. Combining these effects, we arrive at a properly antisymmetrised Faddeev wave function for the nucleon and calculate, e.g. the flavor-separated versions of the Dirac and Pauli form factors and the proton's leading-twist parton distribution amplitude. We conclude that available data and planned experiments are capable of validating the proposed picture.

Separated kaon electroproduction cross section and the kaon form factor from 6 GeV JLab data

The $^{1}H$($e,e^\prime K^+$)$\Lambda$ reaction was studied as a function of the Mandelstam variable $-t$ using data from the E01-004 (FPI-2) and E93-018 experiments that were carried out in Hall C at the 6 GeV Jefferson Lab. The cross section was fully separated into longitudinal and transverse components, and two interference terms at four-momentum transfers $Q^2$ of 1.00, 1.36 and 2.07 GeV$^2$. The kaon form factor was extracted from the longitudinal cross section using the Regge model by Vanderhaeghen, Guidal, and Laget. The results establish the method, previously used successfully for pion analyses, for extracting the kaon form factor. Data from 12 GeV Jefferson Lab experiments are expected to have sufficient precision to distinguish between theoretical predictions, for example recent perturbative QCD calculations with modern parton distribution amplitudes. The leading-twist behavior for light mesons is predicted to set in for values of $Q^2$ between 5-10 GeV$^2$, which makes data in the few GeV regime particularly interesting. The $Q^2$ dependence at fixed $x$ and $-t$ of the longitudinal cross section we extracted seems consistent with the QCD factorization prediction within the experimental uncertainty.

Exposing strangeness: Projections for kaon electromagnetic form factors

A continuum approach to the kaon and pion bound-state problems is used to reveal their electromagnetic structure. For both systems, when used with parton distribution amplitudes appropriate to the scale of the experiment, Standard Model hard-scattering formulae are accurate to within 25% at momentum transfers $Q^2 \approx 8\,$GeV$^2$. There are measurable differences between the distribution of strange and normal matter within the kaons, e.g. the ratio of their separate contributions reaches a peak value of $1.5$ at $Q^2 \approx 6\,$GeV$^2$. Its subsequent $Q^2$-evolution is accurately described by the hard scattering formulae. Projections for kaon and pion form factors at timelike momenta beyond the resonance region are also presented. These results and projections should prove useful in planning next-generation experiments.