A fitter code for Deep Virtual Compton Scattering and Generalized Parton Distributions

We have developed a fitting code based on the leading-twist handbag Deep Virtual Compton Scattering (DVCS) amplitude in order to extract Generalized Parton Distribution (GPD) information from DVCS observables in the valence region. In a first stage, with simulations and pseudo-data, we show that the full GPD information can be recovered from experimental data if enough observables are measured. If only some of these observables are measured, valuable information can still be extracted, with certain observables being particularly sensitive to certain GPDs. In a second stage, we make a practical application of this code to the recent DVCS Jefferson Lab Hall-A data from which we can extract numerical constraints for the two H GPD Compton form factors. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Deeply virtual Compton scattering and saturation approach

We investigate the deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS) in the color dipole approach, implementing the dipole cross section through the saturation model, which interpolates successfully between soft and hard regimes. The imaginary and real part of the DVCS amplitude are obtained and the results are compared to the available data. Received: 12 February 2003, Revised: 2 May 2003, Published online: 11 June 2003     

COMPASS-II

On December 1st 2010 the proposal of the COMPASS-II Experiment [1] has been approved by the CERN Research Board. After almost ten years of important results achieved by the COMPASS Collaboration in both nucleon spin physics, with the use of muon beam, and hadron spectroscopy, using hadron beams, this second phase offers now a unique chance to address in the very near future newly opened QCD-related challenges, at very moderate upgrade cost, thanks to the versatility of the COMPASS apparatus [2]. This implies mainly study of chiral perturbation theory (ChPT), by measuring the pion polarizability through Primakoff reaction; generalized parton distributions (GPDs), by measuring exclusive deeply virtual compton scattering (DVCS) and hard exclusive meson production (DVMP); transverse momentum dependent parton distributions (TMDs) in single-polarised pion-induced Drell-Yan muon production and in SIDIS on a liquid hydrogen target (in parallel to DVCS). An overview of the COMPASS-II proposal is presented here, with a main focus on the new upcoming investigation of the nucleon structure via the Drell-Yan and DVCS processes.     

Scaling tests of the cross section for deeply virtual Compton scattering

We present the first measurements of the e[over -->]p-->epgamma cross section in the deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS) regime and the valence quark region. The Q(2) dependence (from 1.5 to 2.3 GeV(2)) of the helicity-dependent cross section indicates the twist-2 dominance of DVCS, proving that generalized parton distributions (GPDs) are accessible to experiment at moderate Q(2). The helicity-independent cross section is also measured at Q(2)=2.3 GeV(2). We present the first model-independent measurement of linear combinations of GPDs and GPD integrals up to the twist-3 approximation.     

Colour dipoles and virtual Compton scattering

An analysis of Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering (DVCS) is made within the colour dipole model. We compare and contrast two models for the dipole cross-section which have been successful in describing structure function data. Both models agree with the available cross section data on DVCS from HERA. We give predictions for various azimuthal angle asymmetries in HERA kinematics and for the DVCS cross section in the THERA region. Received: 22 July 2001 / Revised version: 5 November 2001 / Published online: 14 December 2001     

Generalized Parton Distributions from Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering at HERMES

The HERMES Collaboration has recently published a set of (correlated) beam charge, beam spin and target spin asymmetries for the Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering (DVCS) process. This reaction allows in principle to access the Generalized Parton Distributions (GPDs) of the nucleon. We have fitted, in the QCD leading-order and leading-twist handbag approximation, but in a model-independent way, this set of data and we report our results for the extracted Compton form factors. In particular, we are able to extract constrains on the H GPD.     

HERMES impact for the access of Compton form factors

We utilize the DVCS asymmetry measurements of the HERMES collaboration for access to Compton form factors in the deeply virtual regime and to generalized parton distributions. In particular, the (almost) complete measurement of DVCS observables allows us to map various asymmetries into the space of Compton form factors, where we still rely in this analysis on dominance of twist-two associated Compton form factors. We compare this one-to-one map with local Compton form factor fits and a model dependent global fit.     

An overview of recent DVCS results at HERMES

The HERMES experiment at DESY, Hamburg, collected unique data on Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering (DVCS) utilizing the HERA polarized electron or positron beams with an energy of 27.6 GeV and longitudinally or transversely polarized or unpolarized gas targets (H, D or heavier nuclei). For the last two years of HERA running, a recoil detector was installed to improve the selection of DVCS events by direct measurement of the recoil protons. Recent HERMES results on DVCS off the hydrogen target and on associated processes ep → epπ⁰γ and ep → enπ⁺γ in the Δ-resonance region obtained with the recoil detector are presented.     

Generalized parton distributions and deeply virtual Compton scattering in color glass condensate model

Within the framework of the color glass condensate model, we evaluate quark and gluon generalized parton distributions (GPDs) and the cross section of deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS) in the small-x_B region. We demonstrate that the DVCS cross section becomes independent of energy in the limit of very small x_B, which clearly indicates saturation of the DVCS cross section. Our predictions for the GPDs and the DVCS cross section at high energies can be tested at the future Electron–Ion Collider and in ultra-peripheral nucleus–nucleus collisions at the LHC. PACS  12.38.Mh; 13.60.Fz; 13.85.Fb; 24.85.+p; 25.20.Dc     

Recent HERMES Results on DVCS from Proton and Nuclear Targets

Spin structure is one of the fundamental subjects in the study of nucleon structure.Recently it is found that Generalized Parton Distributions(GPDs) are related to the total angular momentum carried by partons,which offers a possible solution to the spin puzzle in the first time.We get access to certain GPDs by looking at the azimuthal angle asymmetries attributed to the interference between Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering (DVCS) and Bethe-Heilter processes in HERMES experiment.By measuring the asymmetry with respect to transverse target polarization from proton target,a model-dependent constraint on J_u vs J_d is obtained.Another worldwide unique channel is nuclear DVCS.The preliminary results on asymmetries with respect to beam spin and beam charge are reported.     

Deeply virtual compton scattering from the neutron with CLAS and CLAS12

Generalised Parton Distributions (GPDs) offer an insight into the three-dimensional structure of the nucleon and its internal dynamics, relating the longitudinal momentum of quarks to their transverse position. A very effective means of accessing GPDs is via measurements of cross-sections and polarisation-asymmetries in Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering (DVCS). In particular, the beam-spin asymmetry (BSA) in DVCS from the neutron is especially sensitive to angular momentum of the up- and down-quarks, and its measurement therefore has potential to shed important light on the puzzle of nucleon spin. We present a preliminary extraction of BSA from a recent experiment using a 6 GeV electron beam and the CLAS detector at Jefferson Laboratory and introduce the Central Neutron Detector to be integrated with CLAS12 for the exclusive measurement of neutron DVCS at 11 GeV, made possible by the Jefferson Lab upgrade.     

Recent results from the HERMES experiment

Results are presented from the Hermes experiment which uses semi-inclusive deep inelastic lepton scattering to study the flavor structure of the nucleon. Data have been accumulated for pion and kaon double spin asymmetries, single-spin azimuthal asymmetries for meson electroproduction, deep virtual Compton scattering (DVCS), and meson multiplicities. These results provide information on the properties of the strange sea in the proton, constraints on transverse momentum dependent quark parton distributions, and demonstrate the promise of DVCS for isolating the total angular momentum carried by the quarks in the proton.     

A detailed next-to-leading order QCD analysis of deeply virtual Compton scattering observables

We present a detailed next-to-leading order (NLO) leading twist QCD analysis of deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS) observables, for several different input scenarios, in the scheme. We discuss the size of the NLO effects and the behavior of the observables in skewedness , momentum transfer,t, and photon virtuality, . We present results on the amplitude level for unpolarized and longitudinally polarized lepton probes, and unpolarized and longitudinally polarized proton targets. We make predictions for various asymmetries and for the DVCS cross section and compare with the available data. Received: 30 November 2001 / Revised version: 12 February 2002 / Published online: 15 March 2002     

Hadron optics: Diffraction patterns in deeply virtual Compton scattering

We show that the Fourier transform of the deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS) amplitude with respect to the skewness variable ζ at fixed invariant momentum transfer squared t   provides a unique way to visualize the structure of the target hadron in the boost-invariant longitudinal coordinate space. The results are analogous to the diffractive scattering of a wave in optics. As a specific example, we utilize the quantum fluctuations of a fermion state at one loop in QED to obtain the behavior of the DVCS amplitude for electron–photon scattering. We then simulate the wavefunctions for a hadron by differentiating the above LFWFs with respect to M²$M^2$ and study the corresponding DVCS amplitudes in light-front longitudinal space. In both cases we observe that the diffractive patterns in the longitudinal variable conjugate to ζ sharpen and the positions of the first minima move in with increasing momentum transfer. For fixed t, higher minima appear at positions which are integral multiples of the lowest minimum. Both these observations strongly support the analogy with diffraction in optics.     

DVCS on nuclei: observability and consequences

In this paper, we discuss the feasibility of measuring deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS) on nuclei in a collider setting, as for example, the planned high-luminosity Electron-Ion Collider (EIC). We demonstrate that employing our recent model for nuclear generalized parton distributions (nGPDs), the one-photon unpolarized DVCS cross section as well as the azimuthal and spin asymmetry are of the same size as in the proton case. This will allow for an experimental extraction of nuclear GPDs with high precision, shedding new light not only on nuclear shadowing at small x_Bj but also on the interplay of shadowing and nuclear enhancement at .Received: 8 September 2003, Revised: 24 November 2003, Published online: 15 January 2004     

Demystifying generalized parton distributions

In this paper, I will explain in as simple and intuitive physical terms as possible what generalized parton distributions are, what new information about the structure of hadrons they convey and therefore what picture of the hadron will emerge. To develop this picture, I will use the example of deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS) and exclusive meson electroproduction processes. Based on this picture, I will then make some general predictions for these processes.Received: 2 December 2002, Revised: 20 August 2003, Published online: 2 October 2003     

Excited nucleon as a van der Waals system of partons

Saturation in deep inelastic scattering (DIS) and deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS) is associated with a phase transition between the partonic gas, typical of moderate x and Q ², and partonic fluid appearing at increasing Q ² and decreasing Bjorken x. We suggest the van der Waals equation of state to describe properly this phase transition.