Studying the possible breaking of various parton model symmetries by the parton distribution functions of the nucleon can provide important information for the non-perturbative structure of hadrons and the strong interaction. We review theoretical calculations for the breaking of flavor symmetry, quark-antiquark symmetry and charge symmetry in the unpolarized and polarized nucleons using the meson cloud model. We report an estimation for the total distribution of strange and antistrange quarks in the nucleon by combining theoretical calculations of SU(3) flavor symmetry breaking with light antiquark distributions obtained from global analysis of available experimental data.
We review the current status of spin-averaged and spin-dependent parton distribution functions (PDFs) of the nucleon. After presenting the formalism used to fit PDFs in modern global data analyses, we discuss constraints placed on the PDFs by specific data types. We give representative examples of unpolarized and polarized PDFs and their errors, and list open questions in global QCD fitting. Finally, we anticipate how future facilities, with fixed-target and collider experiments, may impact our knowledge of PDFs and reduce their uncertainties.
I review recent progress in the extraction of unpolarized parton distributions in the proton and in nuclei from a unified point of view that highlights how the interplay between high energy particle physics and lower energy nuclear physics can be of mutual benefit to either field. Areas of overlap range from the search for physics beyond the standard model at the LHC, to the study of the non perturbative structure of nucleons and the emergence of nuclei from quark and gluon degrees of freedom, to the interaction of colored probes in a cold nuclear medium.
We review strategies to unveil the primordial large-$x$ structure of the nucleons as well as the pion from hard-scattering experiments. Ideas are presented for learning about the $x\to 1$ limit of nonperturbative QCD dynamics at energy scales of order 1 GeV from collider experiments at much higher scales. The behavior of parton distributions at $x\to 1$ predicted by the quark counting rules and other low-energy theoretical approaches is contrasted with phenomenological PDFs. Polynomial mimicry of PDF parametrizations is one of many factors that influence the apparent power of the $(1-x)$ fallo…
We present the first lattice-QCD calculation of the nucleon isovector unpolarized parton distribution functions (PDFs) at the physical-continuum limit using Large-Momentum Effective Theory (LaMET). The lattice results are calculated using ensembles with multiple sea pion masses with the lightest one around 135~MeV, 3 lattice spacings $a\in[0.06,0.12]$~fm, and multiple volumes with $M_πL$ ranging 3.3 to 5.5. We perform a simultaneous chiral-continuum extrapolation to obtain RI/MOM renormalized nucleon matrix elements with various Wilson-link displacements in the continuum limit at physical pion…
The quasi-PDF approach provides a path to computing parton distribution functions (PDFs) using lattice QCD. This approach requires matrix elements of a power-divergent operator in a nucleon at high momentum and one generically expects discretization effects starting at first order in the lattice spacing $a$. Therefore, it is important to demonstrate that the continuum limit can be reliably taken and to understand the size and shape of lattice artifacts. In this work, we report a calculation of isovector unpolarized and helicity PDFs using lattice ensembles with $N_f=2+1+1$ Wilson twisted mass …
The recently proposed large momentum effective theory (LaMET) of Ji has led to a burst of activity among lattice practitioners to perform and control the first pioneering calculations of the quasi-PDFs of the nucleon. These calculations represent approximations to the standard PDFs defined as correlation functions of fields with lightlike separation, being instead correlations along a longitudinal direction of the operator $γ^z$; as such, they differ from standard PDFs by power-suppressed $1 \big/ p^2_z$ corrections, becoming exact in the limit $p_z \to \infty$. Investigating the systematics o…
To facilitate lattice QCD calculations of nucleon structute, a set of quasi-parton distributions were recently introduced. These quasi-PDFs were shown to reduce to standard PDFs when the nucleon is boosted to high energies, $P_z\rightarrow \infty$. Since taking such limit is not feasible in lattice simulations, it is essential to provide guidance for what values of $P_z$ the quasi-PDFs are good approximations of standard PDFs. Within the framework of the spectator diquark model, we evaluate both the up and down quarks' quasi-PDFs and standard PDFs for all leading-twist distributions (unpolariz…
Recent high precision experimental data from a variety of hadronic processes opens new opportunities for determination of the collinear parton distribution functions (PDFs) of the proton. In fact, the wealth of information from experiments such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and others, makes it difficult to quickly assess the impact on the PDFs, short of performing computationally expensive global fits. As an alternative, we explore new methods for quantifying the potential impact of experimental data on the extraction of proton PDFs. Our approach relies crucially on the correlation betwe…
A new and simple statistical approach is performed to calculate the parton distribution functions (PDFs) of the nucleon in terms of light-front kinematic variables. We do not put in any extra arbitrary parameter or corrected term by hand, which guarantees the stringency of our approach. Analytic expressions of the $x$-dependent PDFs are obtained in the whole $x$ region [0,1], and some features, especially the low-$x$ rise, are more agreeable with experimental data than those in some previous instant-form statistical models in the infinite-momentum frame (IMF). Discussions on heavy-flavored PDF…
We discuss unpolarized neutrino- and anti-neutrino-nucleon deep inelastic scattering (DIS) using a chiral doublet of baryonic sources with explicit symmetry breaking, in a slice of AdS$_5$ with both a hard and soft wall. We explicitly derive the direct and transition form factors for the vector and axial-vector currents for the holographic dual of a proton and neutron. We use them to derive the s-channel structure functions for neutrino and anti-neutrino scattering on a proton and neutron in bulk. The t-channel contributions stemming from the Pomeron and Reggeon exchanges are also evaluated ex…
We find in one-loop calculations and spectator models that twist-3 GPDs exhibit discontinuities. In the forward limit these discontinuities grow into Dirac delta functions which are essential to satisfy the sum rules involving twist-3 PDFs. We calculate twist-3 quasi-PDFs as a function of longitudinal momentum and identify the Dirac delta function terms with momentum components in the nucleon state that do not scale as the nucleon is boosted to the infinite momentum frame.
Perturbative quantum chromodynamics (QCD) ceases to be applicable at low interaction energies due to the rapid increase of the strong coupling. In that limit, the non-perturbative regime determines the properties of quarks and gluons (partons) in terms of parton distribution functions (PDFs) or nuclear PDFs, based on whether they are confined within nucleons or nuclei respectively. Related non-perturbative dynamics describe the hadronisation of partons into hadrons and are encoded by the fragmentation functions (FFs). This thesis focuses on the detailed study of PDFs in protons and nuclei as w…
Taking into account the PDFs, obtained by different Collaborations, the momentum transfer dependence of GPDs of the nucleons is obtained. The calculated electromagnetic and gravitomagnetic form factors of nucleons are used for the description of different form factors and the nucleons elastic scattering in a wide energy and momentum transfer region with a minimum number of fitting parameters. The electromagnetic and gravitomagnetic radii of the nucleon are calculated using the obtained momentum transfer dependence of GPDs with different forms of PDFs obtained by different Collaborations. The c…
We review the Euclidean path-integral formulation of the nucleon hadronic tensor and classify the gauge invariant and topologically distinct insertions in terms of connected and disconnected insertions and also in terms of leading and higher-twist contributions in the DIS region. Converting the Euclidean hadronic tensor back to the Minkowski space requires solving an inverse problem of the Laplace transform. We have investigated several inverse algorithms and studied the pros and cons of each. We show a result with a relatively large momentum transfer ($Q^2 \sim 4\, {\rm GeV^2}$) to suppress t…
Reports on our latest extractions of parton distribution functions of the nucleon are given. First an overview of the recent JR14 upgrade of our unpolarized PDFs, including NNLO determinations of the strong coupling constant and a discussion of the role of the input scale in parton distribution analysis. In the second part of the talk recent results on the determination of spin-dependent PDFs from the JAM collaboration are reported, including a careful treatment of hadronic and nuclear corrections, as well as reports on the impact of present and future data in our understanding of the spin of …
Determinations of the proton's collinear parton distribution functions (PDFs) are emerging with growing precision due to increased experimental activity at facilities like the Large Hadron Collider. While this copious information is valuable, the speed at which it is released makes it difficult to quickly assess its impact on the PDFs, short of performing computationally expensive global fits. As an alternative, we explore new methods for quantifying the potential impact of experimental data on the extraction of proton PDFs. Our approach relies crucially on the Hessian correlation between theo…
The relations between TMDs and PDFs are obtained from the symmetry requirement: relativistic covariance combined with rotationally symmetric parton motion in the nucleon rest frame. This requirement is applied in the covariant parton model. Using the usual PDFs as an input, we are obtaining predictions for some polarized and unpolarized TMDs.
Understanding nuclear effects in parton distribution functions (PDF) is an essential component needed to determine the strange and anti-strange quark contributions in the proton. In addition Nuclear Parton Distribution Functions (NPDF) are critically important for any collider experiment with nuclei (e.g. RHIC, ALICE). Here two next-to-leading order chi^2-analyses of NPDF are presented. The first uses neutral current charged-lepton Deeply Inelastic Scattering (DIS) and Drell-Yan data for several nuclear targets and the second uses neutrino-nucleon DIS data. We compare the nuclear corrections f…
We develop a non-perturbative model for valence parton distribution functions (PDFs) based on the mean field interactions of valence quarks in the nucleonic interior. The main motivation for the model is to obtain a mean field description of the valence quarks as a baseline to study the short range quark-quark interactions that generate the high $x$ tail of PDFs. The model is based on the separation of the valence three-quark cluster and residual system in the nucleon. Then the nucleon structure function is calculated within the effective light-front diagrammatic approach introducing nonpertur…
We perform the next-to-next-leading-order (NNLO) QCD global fit of PDFs using inclusive charged-lepton and neutrino DIS data down to Q = 1 GeV. We also consider the data on neutrino-nucleon dimuon production, that allows us to disentangle the strange sea distribution. The fit results in χ^2/NDP = 5150/4338 = 1.2 that demonstrates a good consistency of the data sets used in analysis. The resulting value of α_s(M_Z) = 0.1136+- 0.0007(exp.) is in a good agreement with the previous version of the fit with a more stringent cut on Q. This analysis allows us to improve the accuracy of PDFs. The HT te…
It is well established that the nucleon form factors can be related to Generalized Parton Distributions (GPDs) through sum-rules. On the other hand, GPDs can be expressed in terms of Parton Distribution Functions (PDFs) according to Diehl's model. In this work, we use this model to calculate polarized GPDs for quarks ($\widetilde{H}_q$) using the available polarized PDFs obtained from the experimental data, and then study the axial form factor of nucleon. We determine parameters of the model using standard $χ^2$ analysis of experimental data. It is shown that some parameters should be readjust…
The recent global analyses of the nuclear parton distribution functions (nPDFs) lend support to the validity of the factorization theorem of QCD in high-energy processes involving bound nucleons. With a special attention on our latest global analysis EPS09, we review the recent developements in the domain of nuclear PDFs.
I review lattice-QCD calculations of the electromagnetic and generalized form factors (GFFs), which determine the transverse structure of the nucleon, and briefly comment on recent calculations related to transverse-momentum dependent parton distribution functions (TMDPDFs).
We point out a problem of the phenomenological definition of the valence partons as the difference between the partons and antipartons in the context of the NNLO evolution equations. After demonstrating that the classification of the parton degrees of freedom (PDF) of the parton distribution functions (PDFs) are the same in the QCD path-intergral formulations of the hadronic tensor and the quasi-PDF with LaMET, we resolve the problem by showing that the proper definition of the valence should be in terms of those in the connected insertions only. We also prove that the strange partons appear a…
Using recent and updated world data on polarized structure functions $g_1$ and $g_2$ we perform QCD analysis at the next-next-to-leading-order (NNLO) accuracy. We include also target mass correction and higher twist effect to get more precise results in our fitting procedure. To confirm the validity of our fitting results several sum rules are examined and we do a comparison for them with results from other models. In our analysis we employ Jacobi polynomials approach to obtain analytical solutions of the DGLAP evolution equations for parton distribution functions (PDFs). Using the extracted P…
We derive relations between transverse momentum dependent distribution functions (TMDs) and the usual parton distribution functions (PDFs) in the 3D covariant parton model, which follow from Lorentz invariance and the assumption of a rotationally symmetric distribution of parton momenta in the nucleon rest frame. Using the known PDFs f_1(x) and g_1(x) as input we predict the x- and pT-dependence of all twist-2 T-even TMDs.
The parton distribution functions (PDFs) provide process-independent information about the quarks and gluons inside hadrons. Although the gluon PDF can be obtained from a global fit to experimental data, it is not constrained well in the large-$x$ region. Theoretical gluon-PDF studies are much fewer than those of the quark PDFs. In this work, we present the first lattice-QCD results that access the $x$-dependence of the gluon unpolarized PDF of the nucleon. The lattice calculation is carried out with nucleon momenta up to 2.16 GeV, lattice spacing $a\approx0.12$ fm, with valence pion masses of…
We critically examine uncertainties in parton distribution functions (PDFs) at large x arising from nuclear effects in deuterium F2 structure function data. Within a global PDF analysis, we assess the impact on the PDFs from uncertainties in the deuteron wave function at short distances and nucleon off-shell effects, the use of relativistic kinematics, as well as the use of less a restrictive parametrization of the d/u ratio. We find that in particular the d-quark and gluon PDFs vary significantly with the choice of nuclear model. We highlight the impact of these uncertainties on the determina…
Nucleon Parton Distribution Functions from Boosted Correlations in the Coulomb gauge
Brookhaven National Laboratory（布鲁克海文国家实验室）；University of Maryland（马里兰大学）；Argonne National Laboratory（阿贡国家实验室）；Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院）
I explain the current status of parton-distribution-function (PDF) studies and future experimental prospects on their determinations. First, unpolarized PDFs of the nucleon are introduced as a field of precision QCD physics including higher-order $α_s$ corrections. Second, nuclear PDFs and polarized nucleonic PDFs are discussed. Third, the determination of fragmentation functions is explained. Forth, the three-dimensional (3D) structure functions are discussed in connection with the origin of the nucleon spin and gravitational form factors of hadrons. By the 3D structure functions, gravitation…
Nuclear parton distribution functions (nuclear PDFs) are non-perturbative objects that encode the partonic behaviour of bound nucleons. To avoid potential higher-twist contributions, the data probing the high-$x$ end of nuclear PDFs are sometimes left out from the global extractions despite their potential to constrain the fit parameters. In the present work we focus on the kinematic corner covered by the new high-$x$ data measured by the CLAS/JLab collaboration. By using the Hessian re-weighting technique, we are able to quantitatively test the compatibility of these data with globally analyz…
We present a physical model for polarized and unpolarized structure functions and parton density functions (PDFs) of the proton and the neutron. It reproduces the data on F_2^p(x,Q^2) for 0.00001<x<1 and 2.5<Q^2<5000 GeV^2, F_2^p(x)-F_2^n(x), F_2^n(x)/F_2^p(x), xg(x), dbar(x)-ubar(x), d(x)/u(x), the Gottfried sum, the fractional momentum of charged partons and the polarized structure functions g_1^{p,n}(x), at various Q^2. We present for the first time, proton and neutron PDFs which do not assume charge symmetry. Contrary to the common practice, we explain polarized and unpolarized data with a…
Impact of Future Dihadron Production Measurements on the Transversity Distributions and Tensor Charges of the Nucleon
Temple University（天普大学）；College of William & Mary（威廉玛丽学院）；Duke University（杜克大学）；Lebanon Valley College（黎巴谷学院）；Penn State University Berks（宾夕法尼亚州立大学伯克斯分校）；Jefferson Lab（杰斐逊实验室）
We present our results for a flavor-dependent EMC effect based on the nIMParton nuclear PDFs, in which the $x$-dependence is described with a nucleon swelling model. The nuclear correction from nucleon swelling is considered through a modification of the initial valence quark distributions instead of a dynamical rescaling. To probe the flavor-dependence of the model, the experimental observables are calculated applying nIMParton nuclear modifications for various experiments: parity-violating deep inelastic scattering on nuclear target, pion-induced Drell-Yan, and W-boson production in proton-n…
Parton distribution functions (pdfs) are an important ingredient for LHC phenomenology. Recent progress in determining pdfs from global analyses is reviewed, and some of the most important outstanding issues are highlighted. Particular attention is paid to the precision with which predictions for LHC `standard-candle' cross sections can be made, and also to new information that LHC can provide on pdfs.
Large momentum effective field theory (LaMET) enables the extraction of parton distribution functions (PDFs) directly on a Euclidean lattice through a factorization theorem that relates the computed quasi-PDFs to PDFs. We apply chiral perturbation theory (ChPT) to LaMET to further separate soft scales, such as light quark masses and lattice size, to obtain leading model independent extrapolation formulas for extrapolations to physical quark masses and infinite volume. We find that the finite volume effect is reduced when the nucleon carries a finite momentum. For nucleon momentum greater than …
In the spectator models of the nucleon with scalar and axial-vector diquarks, we show that the effect of Pauli coupling in photon-quark vertex to the parton distribution functions (PDFs) of nucleon and azimuthal asymmetry in the unpolarized semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering (SIDIS). This anomalous coupling gives obvious contribution to unpolarized and polarized PDFs, and also leads to a $\cos 2ϕ_h$ azimuthal asymmetry proportional to the squared Pauli form factor, due to the helicity flip of the struck quark. After determining the model parameters by fitting PDFs to the global fits, thi…
We present a first attempt to design a quantum circuit for the determination of the parton content of the proton through the estimation of parton distribution functions (PDFs), in the context of high energy physics (HEP). The growing interest in quantum computing and the recent developments of new algorithms and quantum hardware devices motivates the study of methodologies applied to HEP. In this work we identify architectures of variational quantum circuits suitable for PDFs representation (qPDFs). We show experiments about the deployment of qPDFs on real quantum devices, taking into consider…
We present the first Monte Carlo based global QCD analysis of spin-averaged and spin-dependent parton distribution functions (PDFs) that includes nucleon isovector matrix elements in coordinate space from lattice QCD. We investigate the degree of universality of the extracted PDFs when the lattice and experimental data are treated under the same conditions within the Bayesian likelihood analysis. For the unpolarized sector, we find rather weak constraints from the current lattice data on the phenomenological PDFs, and difficulties in describing the lattice matrix elements at large spatial dist…
Tensor-polarized parton distribution functions of the deuteron by a convolution model
Quark Matter Research Center, Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院近代物理研究所夸克物质研究中心）；Southern Center for Nuclear Science Theory, Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院近代物理研究所南方核科学理论中心）；KEK Theory Center, Institute of Particle and Nuclear Studies, KEK（高能加速器研究机构粒子与核研究所学部KEK理论中心）
We present the next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) calculation of quark quasi parton distribution functions (PDFs) in the large momentum effective theory. The nontrivial factorization at this order is established explicitly and the full analytic matching coefficients between the quasi distribution and the lightcone distribution are derived. We demonstrate that the NNLO numerical contributions can improve the behavior of the extracted PDFs sizably. With the unprecedented precision study of nucleon tomography at the planned electron-ion collider, high precision Lattice QCD simulations with our …
We investigate the parity-violating analyzing power in neutron capture on the proton at thermal energies in the framework of chiral effective field theory. By combining this analysis with a previous analysis of parity violation in proton-proton scattering, we are able to extract the size of the weak pion-nucleon coupling constant. The uncertainty is significant and dominated by the experimental error which is expected to be reduced soon.
The flavor dependence of the naive time reversal odd (``T-odd'') parton distributions for $u$- and $d$-quarks are explored in the spectator model. The flavor dependence of $h_{1}^{\perp}$ is of significance for the analysis of the azimuthal $\cos(2ϕ)$ asymmetries in unpolarized SIDIS and DY-processes, as well as for the overall physical understanding of the distribution of transversely polarized quarks in unpolarized nucleons. As a by-product of the formalism, we calculate the chiral-odd but ``T-even'' function $h_{1L}^{\perp}$ which enables us to present a prediction for the single spin asymm…
Measurements of the deep-inelastic scattering (DIS) of leptons and nucleons, $e+p\to e+X$, allow the extraction of Parton Distribution Functions (PDFs) which describe the longitudinal momentum carried by the quarks, anti-quarks and gluons that make up the fast-moving nucleons. While PDFs provide crucial input to perturbative Quantum Chromodynamic (QCD) calculations of processes involving hadrons, they do not provide a complete picture of the partonic structure of nucleons. In particular, PDFs contain neither information on the correlations between partons nor on their transverse motion. Hard e…
We present a new analysis to extract pion parton distribution functions (PDFs) within the framework of the statistical model. Starting from the statistical model first developed for the spin-1/2 nucleon, we extend this model to describe the spin-0 pion. Based on a combined fit to both the pion-induced Drell-Yan data and the pion-induced $J/Ψ$ production data, a new set of pion PDFs has been obtained. The inclusion of the $J/Ψ$ production data in the combined fit has provided additional constraints for better determining the gluon distribution in the pion. We also compare the pion PDFs obtained…
Heavy quark parton distribution functions (PDFs) play an important role in several Standard Model and New Physics processes. Most analyses rely on the assumption that the charm and bottom PDFs are generated perturbatively by gluon splitting and do not involve any non-perturbative degrees of freedom. It is clearly necessary to test this hypothesis with suitable QCD processes. Conversely, a non-perturbative, intrinsic heavy quark parton distribution has been predicted in the literature. We demonstrate that to a very good approximation the scale-evolution of the intrinsic heavy quark content of t…
