Moments of nucleon generalized parton distributions from lattice QCD simulations at physical pion mass
C. Alexandrou, S. Bacchio, M. Constantinou, P. Dimopoulos, J. Finkenrath, R. Frezzotti, K. Hadjiyiannakou, K. Jansen, B. Kostrzewa, G. Koutsou, C. Lauer, C. Urbach
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Published version. Typos corrected, references and figures added. 22 pages, 17 figures
We present results for the moments of nucleon isovector vector and axial generalised parton distribution functions computed within lattice QCD. Three ensembles of maximally twisted mass clover-improved fermions simulated with a physical value of the pion mass are analyzed. Two of these ensembles are generated using two degenerate light quarks. A third ensemble is used having, in addition to the light quarks, strange and charm quarks in the sea. A careful analysis of the convergence to the ground state is carried out that is shown to be essential for extracting the correct nucleon matrix elements. This allows a controlled determination of the unpolarised, helicity and tensor second Mellin moments. The vector and axial-vector generalised form factors are also computed as a function of the momentum transfer square up to about 1 GeV$^2$. The three ensembles allow us to check for unquenching effects and to assess lattice finite volume effects.
We perform a new Monte Carlo QCD analysis of pion parton distribution functions, including, for the first time, transverse momentum dependent pion-nucleus Drell-Yan cross sections together with $p_{\rm T}$-integrated Drell-Yan and leading neutron electroproduction data from HERA. We assess the sensitivity of the Monte Carlo fits to kinematic cuts, factorization scale, and parametrization choice, and we discuss the impact of the various datasets on the pion's quark and gluon distributions. This study provides the necessary step towards the simultaneous analysis of collinear and transverse momen…
We analyze the moments of parton distribution functions in the pion calculated in lattice QCD, paying particular attention to their chiral extrapolation. Using the lowest three non-trivial moments calculated on the lattice, we assess the accuracy with which the x dependence of both the valence and sea quark distributions in the pion can be extracted. The resulting valence quark distributions at the physical pion mass are in fair agreement with existing Drell-Yan data, but the statistical errors are such that one cannot yet confirm (or rule out) the large-x behavior expected from hadron helicit…
Using heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory we study the leading chiral corrections to the complete set of nucleon generalized parton distributions (GPDs). We compute the leading quark mass and momentum transfer dependence of the moments of nucleon GPDs through the nucleon off-forward twist-2 matrix elements. These results are then applied to get insight on the GPDs and their impact parameter space distributions.
We present the first determination of the $x$-dependent pion gluon distribution from lattice QCD using the pseudo-PDF approach. We use lattice ensembles with 2+1+1 flavors of highly improved staggered quarks (HISQ), generated by MILC Collaboration, at two lattice spacings $a\approx 0.12$ and 0.15~fm and three pion masses $M_π\approx 220$, 310 and 690 MeV. We use clover fermions for the valence action and momentum smearing to achieve pion boost momentum up to 2.29 GeV. We find that the dependence of the pion gluon parton distribution on lattice spacing and pion mass is mild. We compare our resu…
In these proceedings we discuss recent progress in nucleon structure using lattice QCD simulations at or near the physical value of the pion mass. Main focus will be given in observables such as the nucleon axial charge and the first moments of parton distributions, for both the valence and sea quark contributions, and discuss their implications on the spin content of the nucleon. We will will also report developments on the evaluation of the gluon momentum fraction, which contributes significantly to the nucleon spin.
A rainbow-ladder truncation of QCD's Dyson-Schwinger equations, constrained by existing applications to hadron physics, is employed to compute the valence-quark parton distribution functions of the pion and kaon. Comparison is made to pi-N Drell-Yan data for the pion's u-quark distribution and to Drell-Yan data for the ratio u_K(x)/u_π(x): the environmental influence of this quantity is a parameter-free prediction, which agrees well with existing data. Our analysis unifies the computation of distribution functions with that of numerous other properties of pseudoscalar mesons.
We perform a lattice study of double parton distributions in the pion, using the relationship between their Mellin moments and pion matrix elements of two local currents. A good statistical signal is obtained for almost all relevant Wick contractions. We investigate correlations in the spatial distribution of two partons in the pion, as well as correlations involving the parton polarisation. The patterns we observe depend significantly on the quark mass. We investigate the assumption that double parton distributions approximately factorise into a convolution of single parton distributions.
Supposing only that there is an effective charge which defines an evolution scheme for parton distribution functions (DFs) that is all-orders exact, strict lower and upper bounds on all Mellin moments of the valence-quark DFs of pion-like systems are derived. Exploiting contemporary results from numerical simulations of lattice-regularised quantum chromodynamics (QCD) that are consistent with these bounds, parameter-free predictions for pion valence, glue, and sea DFs are obtained. The form of the valence-quark DF at large values of the light-front momentum fraction is consistent with predicti…
This work presents the first calculation in lattice QCD of three moments of spin-averaged and spin-polarized generalized parton distributions in the proton. It is shown that the slope of the associated generalized form factors decreases significantly as the moment increases, indicating that the transverse size of the light-cone quark distribution decreases as the momentum fraction of the struck parton increases.
The pion-nucleon $σ$-term can be stringently constrained by the combination of analyticity, unitarity, and crossing symmetry with phenomenological information on the pion-nucleon scattering lengths. Recently, lattice calculations at the physical point have been reported that find lower values by about $3σ$ with respect to the phenomenological determination. We point out that a lattice measurement of the pion-nucleon scattering lengths could help resolve the situation by testing the values extracted from spectroscopy measurements in pionic atoms.
The uncoupled $P$-wave channels of nucleon-nucleon scattering are studied in an effective field theory (EFT) including a perturbative dibaryon field and perturbative pions. Good agreement between EFT results and the Nijmegen partial wave analysis is observed up to a center-of-mass momentum $k \approx 400$ MeV. Using a method that combines renormalization and fitting together, the long-standing convergence problem of EFTs in these channels with perturbative pions, for momenta above the pion mass is addressed from a new perspective.
We present the $x$-dependent nucleon and pion gluon distribution from lattice QCD using the pseudo-PDF approach, on lattice ensembles with $2+1+1$ flavors of highly improved staggered quarks (HISQ), generated by MILC Collaboration. We use clover fermions for the valence action and momentum smearing to achieve pion boost momentum up to 2.56~GeV on three lattice spacings $a\approx 0.9, 0.12$ and 0.15~fm and three pion masses $M_π\approx 220$, 310 and 690~MeV. We compare our pion and preliminary nucleon gluon results with the determination by global fits.
We present results on the quark unpolarized, helicity and transversity parton distributions functions of the nucleon. We use the quasi-parton distribution approach within the lattice QCD framework and perform the computation using an ensemble of twisted mass fermions with the strange and charm quark masses tuned to approximately their physical values and light quark masses giving pion mass of 260 MeV. We use hierarchical probing to evaluate the disconnected quark loops. We discuss identification of ground state dominance, the Fourier transform procedure and convergence with the momentum boost.…
In this letter, we investigate the nucleon quasi-parton distribution functions in the chiral quark soliton model. We derive a set of sum-rules depending on the velocity of the nucleon and on the Dirac matrix defining the distribution functions. We present numerical results for the isosinglet unpolarized distribution, in which we find that the anti-quark distribution breaks the positivity condition at nucleon velocities $v\approx 0.99\;(P_N\approx 7.0 M_N)$ and smaller. We found that, for the isosinglet unpolarized case, a large nucleon momentum is required for the quasi-parton distribution to …
We complete the analysis of twist-two generalized parton distributions of the nucleon in one-loop order of heavy-baryon chiral perturbation theory. Extending our previous study of the chiral-even isosinglet sector, we give results for chiral-even isotriplet distributions and for the chiral-odd sector. We also calculate the one-loop corrections for the chiral-odd generalized parton distributions of the pion.
Generalized parton distributions provide a unified parameterization of hadron structure and allow one to combine information from many different observables. Lattice QCD calculations already provide important input to determine these distributions and hold the promise to become even more important in the future. To this end, a reliable extrapolation of lattice calculations to the physical quark and pion masses is needed. We present an analysis for the moments of generalized parton distributions of the pion in one-loop order of chiral perturbation theory.
We present a brief review of results of chiral quark models for soft matrix elements in the pion state, appearing in high-energy processes as well as accessible in present and future lattice studies. A particular attention is paid to the recently explored double parton distribution functions of the pion.
We study the nucleon-pion-state contribution to the QCD two-point function of the standard nucleon interpolating fields. For sufficiently small quark masses these two-particle states are expected to have a smaller total energy than the single-particle excited states. We calculate the nucleon-pion-state contribution to leading order in chiral perturbation theory. Both parity channels are considered. We find the nucleon-pion-state contribution to be small, contributing at the few percent level to the effective mass in the positive parity channel.
This talk presents recent calculations in full QCD of the lowest three moments of generalized parton distributions and the insight they provide into the behavior of nucleon electromagnetic form factors, the origin of the nucleon spin, and the transverse structure of the nucleon. In addition, new exploratory calculations in the chiral regime of full QCD are discussed.
We analyze the moments of the isosinglet generalized parton distributions H, E, H-tilde, E-tilde of the nucleon in one-loop order of heavy-baryon chiral perturbation theory. We discuss in detail the construction of the operators in the effective theory that are required to obtain all corrections to a given order in the chiral power counting. The results will serve to improve the extrapolation of lattice results to the chiral limit.
We present the first attempt of a new method to compute the pion light-cone wave function (LCWF) on the lattice. We compute the matrix element between the pion and the vacuum of a non-local operator: the propagator of a ``scalar quark'' (named for short "squark"). A theoretical analysis shows that for some kinematical conditions (energetic pion and hard squark) this matrix element depends dominantly on the LCWF $Φ_π(u), u\in [0,1]$. On the lattice, the discretization of the parton momenta imposes further constraints on the pion momentum. The two-point Green functions made of squark-quark and s…
The lowest three moments of generalized parton distributions are calculated in full QCD and provide new insight into the behavior of nucleon electromagnetic form factors, the origin of the nucleon spin, and the transverse structure of the nucleon.
We employ chiral perturbation theory to calculate the nucleon-pion-state contribution to the 3-point correlation functions measured in lattice QCD to compute various moments of parton distribution functions (quark momentum fraction, helicity and transversity moment). We estimate the impact of the nucleon-pion-state contribution on the plateau method for lattice simulations with a physical pion mass. The nucleon-pion-state contribution results in an overestimation of all three moments. The overestimation is at the 5-20% level for source-sink separations of about 1.5 fm.
We determine the conditions required to study the pion light-cone wave function Phi_pi with a new method: a direct display of the partons constituting the pion. We present the preliminary results of a lattice computation of Phi_pi following this direction. An auxiliary scalar-quark is introduced. The spectroscopy of its bound states is studied. We observe some indications of a partonic behavior of the system of this scalar-quark and the anti-quark.
The effects of double hard interactions are no longer negligible at energy scales reached at the LHC. Double parton scattering (DPS) processes are often described by taking the product of two single parton scattering processes assuming that interference effects are very small. We calculate four point functions (4pt-functions), which appear in the the DPS cross section, employing lattice techniques. We consider a pion at rest and test the validity of the afore-mentioned factorization assumption by convoluting two pion form factors and comparing the result to the 4pt data. For our calculations w…
We employ leading order covariant chiral perturbation theory to compute the nucleon-pion-state contribution to the 3-point correlation functions one typically measures in lattice QCD to extract the isovector nucleon charges $g_A,g_T$ and $g_S$. We estimate the impact of the nucleon-pion-state contribution on both the plateau and the summation method for lattice simulations with physical pion masses. The nucleon-pion-state contribution results in an overestimation of all charges with both methods. The overestimation is roughly equal for the axial and the tensor charge, and about fifty percent l…
The nucleon-pion-state contributions to QCD 2- and 3-point functions used in the calculation of the nucleon axial charge are studied in chiral perturbation theory. For sufficiently small quark masses and large volumes the nucleon-pion states are expected to have smaller total energy than the single-particle excited states. To leading order in chiral perturbation theory the results do not depend on low-energy constants associated with the interpolating nucleon fields and apply to local as well as smeared interpolators. The nucleon-pion-state contribution is found to be at the few percent level.
Generalized parton distributions are a new type of hadronic observables which has recently stimulated great interest among theorists and experimentalists alike. Introduced to delineate the spin structure of the nucleon, the orbital angular momentum of quarks in particular, the new distributions contain vast information about the internal structure of the nucleon, with the usual electromagnetic form factors and Feynman parton distributions as their special limits. While new perturbative QCD processes, such as deeply virtual Compton scattering and exclusive meson production, have been found to m…
We consider the pion matrix elements of the isoscalar and isovector combinations of the vector and tensor twist-two operators that determine the moments of the various pion generalised parton distributions. Our analysis is performed using partially-quenched chiral perturbation theory. We work in the SU(2) and SU(4|2) theories and present our results at infinite volume and also at finite volume where some subtleties arise. These results are useful for extrapolations of lattice calculations of these matrix elements at small momentum transfer to the physical regime.
The nucleon-pion-state contribution to QCD two- and three-point functions used in the calculation of the axial form factors of the nucleon are studied in chiral perturbation theory. For physically small quark masses the nucleon-pion states are expected to dominante the excited-state contamination at large euclidean time separations. To leading order in chiral perturbation theory the results depend on two experimentally well-known low-energy constants only and the nucleon-pion-state contribution can be reliably estimated. The nucleon-pion-state contribution to the axial form factor $G_{\rm A}(Q…