Transverse Momentum Dependent Parton Distribution Functions Research Articles

Unpolarized transverse momentum dependent parton distributions of the nucleon from lattice QCD

We present a first lattice QCD calculation of the unpolarized nucleon’s isovector transverse-momentum-dependent parton distribution functions (TMDPDFs), which are essential to predict observables of multiscale, semi-inclusive processes in the standard model. We use a Nf=2+1+1 MILC ensemble with valence clover fermions on a highly improved staggered quark (HISQ) sea to compute the quark momentum distributions in a large-momentum nucleon on the lattice. The state-of-the-art techniques in renormalization and extrapolation in the correlation distance on the lattice are adopted. The perturbative kernel up to next-to-next-to-leading order is taken into account, and the dependence on the pion mass and the hadron momentum is explored. Our results are qualitatively comparable with phenomenological TMDPDFs, which provide an opportunity to predict high energy scatterings from first principles. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

T-even TMDs for the spin-0 pseudo-scalar mesons upto twist-4 using light-front formalism

We have investigated the pseudo-scalar meson structure in the form of transverse momentum-dependent parton distribution functions (TMDs) in the light-front based holographic model and quark model. Starting from leading order, we have calculated all the time-reversal even TMDs for pion and kaon up to twist-4 in these models. We have shown the 3-dimensional structure as well as the 2-dimensional structure of these particles along with their average quark transverse momenta. The parton distribution functions (PDFs) of pseudo-scalar pion have been compared with E615 and modified E615 results. The sum rules, TMD transverse dependence, inverse moments and Gaussian transverse dependence ratio in these models have also been studied. Further, the transverse quark densities have also been analyzed in the momentum space plane for these particles. The higher twist kaon properties in light-front framework have been predicted for the first time in this work.

The Sivers asymmetry in charged Kaon and Λ\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\Lambda $$\\end{document} hyperon produced SIDIS process at electron ion colliders

We investigate the single transverse-spin asymmetry with a sin(ϕh-ϕS)\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\sin (\\phi _h-\\phi _S)$$\\end{document} modulation in the charged Kaon produced and in Λ\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\Lambda $$\\end{document} hyperon produced SIDIS process within the theoretical framework of transverse momentum dependent (TMD) factorization at the next-to-leading-logarithmic order. The asymmetry is contributed by the convolution of Sivers function and the unpolarized fragmentation function D1\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$D_1$$\\end{document} for the produced hadron. The parametrization for the proton Qiu–Sterman function, which is closely related to the Sivers function, is adopted to numerically estimate the Sivers asymmetry at the kinematical region of Electron Ion Collider (EIC) and Electron Ion Collider in China (EicC). The TMD evolution of the TMD parton distribution functions are considered by employing the non-perturbative Sudakov form factor. It is found that the predicted Sivers asymmetries AUTsin(ϕh-ϕS)\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$A_{UT}^{\\sin (\\phi _h-\\phi _S)}$$\\end{document} as functions of x, z and PhT\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$P_{hT}$$\\end{document} are sizable at the kinematical configurations of both EIC and EicC. The strange constituent of the produced charged Kaon and Λ\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\Lambda $$\\end{document} hyperon in the final state can be a promising probe of the sea quark Sivers function as well as the flavor dependence in the proton target. Therefore, it is important to utilize the future EIC facilities to constrain the sea quark distribution functions as well as the validity of the generalized universality of the Sivers function.

Lattice calculation of the intrinsic soft function and the Collins-Soper kernel

We calculate the soft function using lattice QCD in the framework of large momentum effective theory incorporating the one-loop perturbative contributions. The soft function is a crucial ingredient in the lattice determination of light cone objects using transverse-momentum-dependent (TMD) factorization. It consists of a rapidity-independent part called intrinsic soft function and a rapidity-dependent part called Collins-Soper kernel. We have adopted appropriate normalization when constructing the pseudoscalar meson form factor that is needed in the determination of the intrinsic part and applied Fierz rearrangement to suppress the higher-twist effects. In the calculation of CS kernel we consider a CLS ensemble other than the MILC ensemble used in a previous study. We have also compared the applicability of determining the CS kernel using quasi TMDWFs and quasi TMDPDFs. As an example, the determined soft function is used to obtain the physical TMD wave functions (WFs) of pion and unpolarized iso-vector TMD parton distribution functions (PDFs) of proton.

Semi-inclusive deeply inelastic neutrino and antineutrino nucleus scattering

The (anti)neutrino nucleus scattering plays a very important role in probing the hadronic structure as well as the electroweak phenomenologies. To this end, we calculate the jet production semi-inclusive deeply inelastic (anti)neutrino nucleus scattering process. The initial (anti)neutrino is assumed to be scattered off by a target particle with spin 1. Due to the limitation of the factorization theorem, calculations are carried out in the quantum chromodynamics parton model framework up to tree level twist-3. We consider both the neutral current and the charged current processes and write them into a unified form due to the similar interaction forms. Considering the angular modulations and polarizations of the cross section, we calculate the complete azimuthal asymmetries. We also calculate the intrinsic asymmetries which reveal the imbalance in the distribution of the intrinsic transverse momentum of the quark. We find that these asymmetries can be expressed in terms of the transverse momentum-dependent parton distribution functions (TMD PDFs) and the electroweak couplings. With the determined couplings, these asymmetries can be used to extract the TMD PDFs and further to study the hadronic structures.

Gluon transverse-momentum-dependent distributions from large-momentum effective theory

We demonstrate that gluon transverse-momentum-dependent parton distribution functions (TMDPDFs) can be extracted from lattice calculations of appropriate Euclidean correlations in large-momentum effective theory (LaMET). Based on perturbative calculations of gluon unpolarized and helicity TMDPDFs, we present a matching formula connecting them and their LaMET counterparts, where the latter are renormalized in a scheme facilitating lattice calculations and converted to the overline{textrm{MS}} scheme. The hard matching kernel is given up to one-loop level. We also show that the perturbative result is independent of the prescription used for the pinch-pole singularity in the relevant correlations. Our results offer a guidance for the extraction of gluon TMDPDFs from lattice simulations, and have the potential to greatly facilitate perturbative calculations of the hard matching kernel.

Sivers and Boer-Mulders TMDs of the proton in a light-front quark-diquark model

We obtain the leading twist T-odd quark transverse momentum-dependent parton distribution functions (TMDs) of the proton, namely, the Sivers function ${f}_{1T}^{\ensuremath{\perp}q}(x,{p}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}^{2})$ and the Boer-Mulders function ${h}_{1}^{\ensuremath{\perp}q}(x,{p}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}^{2})$, in a light-front quark-diquark model constructed with the wave functions predicted by the soft-wall AdS/QCD. The gluon rescattering is crucial to predict nonzero T-odd TMDs. We study the utility of a nonperturbative $SU(3)$ gluon rescattering kernel going beyond the usual approximation of perturbative $U(1)$ gluons. The spin asymmetries in semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering (SIDIS) associated with these T-odd TMDs are found to be consistent with HERMES and COMPASS data. We further predict the Sivers asymmetries of pion production in the SIDIS process in the kinematical region of the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) and the EIC in China. We also evaluate the generalized Sivers and Boer-Mulders shifts and compare them with the available lattice QCD simulations.

Twist-4 T-even proton TMDs in the light-front quark–diquark model

We have dealt with the twist-4 T-even transverse momentum dependent parton distributions (TMDs) for the case of proton in the light-front quark–diquark model (LFQDM). By decoding the unintegrated quark–quark correlator for the semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering (SIDIS), we have specifically obtained the overlap form for the unpolarized [Formula: see text], longitudinally polarized [Formula: see text] and transversely polarized ([Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]) proton TMDs. We have provided the explicit expressions for both the cases of the diquark being a scalar or a vector. Average transverse momenta and the average square transverse momenta for the TMDs have been calculated and the results have been tabulated with corresponding leading twist TMDs. In addition, the value of average transverse momentum and average square transverse momentum for TMD [Formula: see text] has been compared with the available light-front constituent quark model (LFCQM) results. From TMDs, we have also obtained and discussed the transverse momentum-dependent parton distribution functions (TMDPDFs). The model relations of the twist-4 T-even TMDs with the available leading twist T-even TMDs have also been obtained.

Toward three-dimensional nucleon structures at the Electron-Ion Collider in China: A study of the Sivers function

Transverse momentum-dependent parton distribution functions (TMDs) provide three-dimensional imaging of the nucleon in the momentum space. With its fundamental importance in understanding the spin structure of the nucleon, the precise measurement of TMDs is considered as one of the main physics topics of the proposed Electron-Ion Collider in China (EicC). In this paper, we investigate the impact of future semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering (SIDIS) data from EicC on the extraction of TMDs. Taking the Sivers function as an example, we revisited the world SIDIS data, which serves as the input for the simulated EicC data. By performing a combined analysis of the world data and the EicC simulated data, we quantitatively demonstrate that the Sivers functions can be precisely determined for various quark flavors, especially for sea quarks, in the region, $x>0.005$, directly covered by the EicC.

Transverse momentum dependent parton distribution functions and QCD evolution equations

We provide an overview over Transverse Momentum Dependent (TMD) Parton Distribution Functions (PDFs). While we will also comment on TMD PDFs in general, we will focus on their use for the description of hadronic reactions in the so-called low x limit. Here $x = M^2/s$ and $M$ is the hard scale of the process, while $\sqrt{s}$ is the center of mass energy of the reaction. We will explain why this are interesting quantities whose exploration serves a manifold purpose. In particular we will explain why these are interesting quantities both for the accurate description of LHC data and why exploration of such quantities is a central goal of the future Electron Ion Collider. In a second part of this talk we will then discuss how perturbative QCD allows us to formulate and solve differential equations, which describe the dependence of this TMD PDFs on various kinematic variables.

Renormalization of Transverse-Momentum-Dependent Parton Distribution on the Lattice.

To calculate the transverse-momentum-dependent parton distribution functions (TMDPDFs) from lattice QCD, an important goal yet to be realized, it is crucial to establish a viable nonperturbative renormalization approach for linear divergences in the corresponding Euclidean quasi-TMDPDF correlators in large-momentum effective theory. We perform a first systematic study of the renormalization property of the quasi-TMDPDFs by calculating the relevant matrix elements in a pion state at five lattice spacings ranging from 0.03fm to 0.12fm. We demonstrate that the square root of the Wilson loop combined with the short distance hadron matrix element provides a successful method to remove all ultraviolet divergences of the quasi-TMD operator, and thus provides the necessary justification to perform a continuum limit calculation of TMDPDFs. In contrast, the popular regularization independent momentum subtraction renormalization (RI/MOM) scheme fails to eliminate all linear divergences.

Transverse momentum distributions of valence quarks in light and heavy vector mesons

We study the leading-twist time-reversal even transverse momentum-dependent parton distribution functions (TMDs) of light and heavy vector mesons, i.e., the $\ensuremath{\rho}$, $J/\ensuremath{\psi}$ and $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Upsilon}}$. We employ the leading Fock-state light front wave functions (LF-LFWFs) of $\ensuremath{\rho}$ and $J/\ensuremath{\psi}$ from our recent study, and supplement with $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Upsilon}}$'s LF-LFWFs. These LF-LFWFs are extracted from dynamically solved Bethe-Salpeter wave functions. The vector meson TMDs are then studied with the light front overlap representation at leading Fock-state. All the obtained TMDs are nonvanishing and evolve with current quark mass, in particular the tensor polarized TMDs ${f}_{1LT}$ and ${f}_{1TT}$ which undergo a sign flip. The $\ensuremath{\rho}$ TMDs are compared with other model studies and agreement is found, aside from ${f}_{1LT}$ and ${f}_{1TT}$. Finally, the collinear PDFs of vector mesons are studied. The $\ensuremath{\rho}$'s valence PDFs ${f}_{1,v}(x)$ and ${g}_{1L,v}(x)$ are evolved to the scale of 2.4 GeV, with their first three moments compared to the lattice QCD prediction. The qualitative behavior of tensor polarized PDF ${f}_{1LL}(x)$ in $\ensuremath{\rho}$ at large $x$ is also discussed.

Measurement of Target Spin (in)dependent Asymmetries in Dimuon Production in Pion-Nucleon Collisions at COMPASS

The exploration of the transverse spin structure of the nucleon is one of the main topics of the COMPASS phase-II experiment. In 2015 and 2018 COMPASS performed Drell–Yan (DY) measurements using a 190 GeV \pmb{\pi^-}𝛑− beam interacting with a transversely polarized NH\pmb{_{3}}3 target and unpolarized W target. The azimuthal asymmetries in DY with transversely polarized NH_{3}3 target are sensitive to various transverse momentum dependent parton distribution functions. Preliminary results on the Sivers asymmetry are consistent with the QCD prediction for a sign-change of Sivers functions in DY. The angular coefficients \pmb{\lambda}𝛌, \pmb{\mu}𝛍 and \pmb{\nu}𝛎 that describe the unpolarized part of the DY cross section have been extracted from the data collected with W target. The preliminary results on the angular coefficients indicate the violation of the Lam–Tung relation, consistent with the observation in earlier DY experiments with pion beams.

Towards precise collider predictions: the Parton Branching method

The collinear factorization theorem, combined with finite-order calculations in perturbative QCD, provides a powerful framework to obtain predictions for many collider observables. However, for observables which involve multiple energy scales, transverse degrees of freedom cannot be neglected, and finite-order perturbative calculations have to be combined with resummed calculations to all orders in the QCD running coupling in order to obtain reliable theoretical predictions, capable of describing experimental measurements. This is traditionally done either by analytic resummation methods or by parton shower (PS) Monte Carlo (MC) methods. In this talk we present the Parton Branching (PB) MC method to obtain QCD collider predictions based on Transverse Momentum Dependent (TMD) factorization. The PB provides evolution equations for TMD Parton Distribution Functions (PDFs) which, upon fitting TMD PDFs to experimental data, can be used in TMD MC event generators. We present the basic concepts of the method and illustrate its applications to collider measurements focusing on Drell-Yan (DY) lepton-pair production in different kinematic ranges, from fixed-target to LHC energies. We discuss the latest developments of the method concentrating especially on the matching of next-to-leading-order (NLO) TMD evolution with MC-at-NLO calculations of NLO matrix elements.

On validity of different PDFs sets using the proton k_t-factorization structure functions and the Gaussian k_t-dependence of KMR UPDFs

In this work, we discuss: (i) The ratios of different parton distribution functions (PDFs), i.e., MMHT2014, CJ15, CTEQ6l1, HERAPDF15, MSTW2008, HERAPDF20 and MSHT20, and the corresponding Kimber–Martin–Ryskin (KMR) unintegrated parton distribution functions (UPDFs) sets versus the hard scale Q^2, to find out the sensibility of the KMR UPDFs with respect to the input PDFs sets. It is shown that there is not much difference between the different input-PDFs or corresponding UPDFs sets ratios. (ii) Then, the dependence of proton k_t-factorization structure functions on the different UPDFs sets which can use the above PDFs sets as input, are presented. The results are compared with the experimental data of ZEUS, NMC and H1+ZEUS at the hard scale Q^2 =27 and 90~text {GeV}^2, and a reasonable agreement is found, considering different input PDFs sets. (iii) Furthermore, by fitting a Gaussian function, which depends on the transverse momentum k_t, to the KMR UPDFs and averaging over x (the fractional parton momentum), we obtain the average transverse momentum, langle k_t^2rangle , in the scale range Q^2=2.4{-}1.44times 10^4~text {GeV}^2, which is in agreement with the other groups predictions, 0.25{-}0.44~text {GeV}^2 at Q^2=2.4 text {GeV}^2. (iv) Finally we explore the average transverse momentum for which, the results of proton structure function with the KMR UPDFs and that of the Gaussian k_t-dependent, are consistent to each other. Through the above report, at each step the parton branching (PB) UPDFs, i.e., the transverse momentum dependent PDFs (PB TMDPDFs) are considered for comparisons with the corresponding KMR UPDFs output.

Parton rescattering and gluon saturation in dijet production at EIC

Large angle gluon radiations induced by multiple parton scatterings contribute to dijet production in deeply inelastic scattering off a large nucleus at the Electron-Ion Collider. Within the generalized high-twist approach to multiple parton scattering, such contributions at the leading order in perturbative QCD and large Bjorken momentum fraction $x_B$ can be expressed as a convolution of the multiple parton scattering amplitudes and the transverse momentum dependent (TMD) two-parton correlation matrix elements. We study this medium-induced dijet spectrum and its azimuthal angle correlation under the approximation of small longitudinal momentum transfer in the secondary scattering and the factorization of two-parton correlation matrix elements as a product of quark and gluon TMD parton distribution function (PDF). Using a simple model for gluon saturation based on the parametrized gluon TMD PDF, we can calculate the $x_B$ and $Q^2$ dependence of the saturation scale and parton transport coefficient $\hat q$. Contributions to dijet cross section from double scattering are power-suppressed and only become sizable for mini-jets at small transverse momentum. We find that the total dijet correlation for these mini-jets, which also includes the contribution from single scattering, is sensitive to the transverse momentum broadening in the quark TMD PDF at large $x$ and saturation in the gluon TMD PDF at small $x$ inside the nucleus. The correlation from double scattering is also found to increase with the dijet rapidity gap and have a quadratic nuclear-size dependence because of the Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal (LPM) interference in gluon emission induced by multiple scattering. Experimental measurements of such unique features in the dijet correlation can shed light on the LPM interference in strong interaction and gluon saturation in large nuclei.

Unpolarized quark and gluon TMD PDFs and FFs at N3LO

In this paper we calculate analytically the perturbative matching coefficients for unpolarized quark and gluon Transverse-Momentum-Dependent (TMD) Parton Distribution Functions (PDFs) and Fragmentation Functions (FFs) through Next-to-Next-to-Next-to-Leading Order (N3LO) in QCD. The N3LO TMD PDFs are calculated by solving a system of differential equation of Feynman and phase space integrals. The TMD FFs are obtained by analytic continuation from space-like quantities to time-like quantities, taking into account the probability interpretation of TMD PDFs and FFs properly. The coefficient functions for TMD FFs exhibit double logarithmic enhancement at small momentum fraction z. We resum such logarithmic terms to the third order in the expansion of αs. Our results constitute important ingredients for precision determination of TMD PDFs and FFs in current and future experiments.

Quarkonium semiclassical transport in quark-gluon plasma: factorization and quantum correction

We study quarkonium transport in the quark-gluon plasma by using the potential nonrelativistic QCD (pNRQCD) effective field theory and the framework of open quantum systems. We argue that the coupling between quarkonium and the thermal bath is weak using separation of scales, so the initial density matrix of the total system factorizes and the time evolution of the subsystem is Markovian. We derive the semiclassical Boltzmann equation for quarkonium by applying a Wigner transform to the Lindblad equation and carrying out a semiclassical expansion. We resum relevant interactions to all orders in the coupling constant at leading power of the nonrelativistic and multipole expansions. The derivation is valid for both weakly coupled and strongly coupled quark-gluon plasmas. We find reaction rates in the transport equation factorize into a quarkonium dipole transition function and a chromoelectric gluon distribution function. For the differential reaction rate, the definition of the momentum dependent chromoelectric gluon distribution function involves staple-shaped Wilson lines. For the inclusive reaction rate, the Wilson lines collapse into a straight line along the real time axis and the distribution becomes momentum independent. The relation between the two Wilson lines is analogous to the relation between the Wilson lines appearing in the gluon parton distribution function (PDF) and the gluon transverse momentum dependent parton distribution function (TMDPDF). The centrality dependence of the quarkonium nuclear modification factor measured by experiments probes the momentum independent distribution while the transverse momentum dependence and measurements of the azimuthal angular anisotropy may be able to probe the momentum dependent one. We discuss one way to indirectly constrain the quarkonium in-medium real potential by using the factorization formula and lattice calculations. The leading quantum correction to the semiclassical transport equation of quarkonium is also worked out. The study can be easily generalized to quarkonium transport in cold nuclear matter, which is relevant for quarkonium production in eA collisions in the future Electron-Ion Collider.

Light-front holographic \u03c1-meson distributions in the momentum space

We present the leading-twist quark transverse momentum-dependent parton distribution functions (TMDs) for the spin-1 target, such as the ρ-meson, in the light-front framework. Specifically, we predict the TMDs in the light-front holographic model and compare with the light-front quark model predictions. We obtain the TMDs using the overlap of the light-front wave functions. We evaluate the k⊥ moments upto second order and compare with the available theoretical predictions. Further, we analyze the leading-twist parton distribution functions (PDFs) of the ρ-meson in the light-front holographic model which are found to be in accord with the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model and the light-front quark model predictions. We further study the QCD evolution of the PDFs. The positivity bounds on the TMDs and the PDFs are also discussed. We also present the quark spin densities in the transverse momentum plane for different polarization configurations of the quark and the ρ-meson target.

Transverse-momentum-dependent parton distribution functions from large-momentum effective theory

We show that transverse-momentum-dependent parton distribution functions (TMDPDFs), important non-perturbative quantities for describing the properties of hadrons in high-energy scattering processes such as Drell-Yan and semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering with observed small transverse momentum, can be obtained from Euclidean QCD calculations in the framework of large-momentum effective theory (LaMET). We present a LaMET factorization of the Euclidean quasi-TMDPDFs in terms of the physical TMDPDFs and off-light-cone soft function at leading order in 1/Pz expansion, with the perturbative matching coefficient satisfying a renormalization group equation. We also discuss the implementation in lattice QCD with finite-length gauge links as well as the rapidity-regularization-independent factorization for Drell-Yan cross section.