Generalized parton distributions from meson leptoproduction

Generalized parton distributions (GPDs) extracted from exclusive meson leptoproduction within the handbag approach are briefly reviewed. Only the GPD E is discussed in some detail. Applications of these GPDs to virtual Compton scattering (DVCS) and to Ji’s sum rule are also presented.     

Role of parton charges and masses in the exclusive production of meson pairs in photon-photon collisions

The exclusive production of K-meson pairs in photon-photon collisions is analyzed within the QCD parton model under the kinematical conditions of the BELLE experiment. The differential cross section for this process is studied as a function of the parton masses and charges and as a function of the form of the K-meson wave function.     

Charm production and parton distributions

Recent accurate data on F ₂(x,Q) and on F ₂ ^c (x,Q) from HERA at small-x require a more precise treatment of charm production in the global analysis of parton distributions. We improve on existing global QCD analyses by implementing the leptoproduction formalism of Aivazis et al. which represents a natural generalization of the conventional zero mass QCD parton framework to include heavy quark mass effects. We also perform analyses based on the fixed-flavor-number scheme, which is widely used in the literature, and demonstrate their uses and limitations. We discuss the implications of the improved treatment of heavy quark mass effect in practical applications of PQCD and compare our results with recent related works.     

Next-to-leading order corrections in exclusive meson production

We analyze in detail the size of next-to-leading order corrections to hard exclusive meson production within the collinear factorization approach. Corrections to the cross section are found to be huge at small x_B and substantial in typical fixed-target kinematics. With the models we take for nucleon helicity-flip distributions, the transverse target polarization asymmetry in vector meson production is strongly affected by radiative corrections, except at large x_B. Its overall size is very small for ρ production but can be large in the ω channel. PACS 12.38.Bx; 13.60.Le     

Interference in exclusive vector meson production in heavy-Ion collisions

Vector mesons are produced copiously in peripheral relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Virtual photons from one ion can fluctuate into quark-antiquark pairs and scatter from the second ion, emerging as vector mesons. The emitter and target are indistinguishable, so emission from the two ions will interfere. Vector mesons have negative parity so the interference is destructive, reducing the production of mesons with small transverse momentum. The mesons are short lived, and decay before emission from the two ions can overlap. However, the decay-product wave functions overlap and interfere since they are produced in an entangled state, providing an example of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox.     

Pionic parton distributions

The gluon and sea distributions of the pion are uniquely determined by the requirement of avalence-like structure of the input parton distributions at some low resolution scale. These (dynamical) results are obtained with practically no free parameters, just using the experimentally determined pionic valence distribution combined with the constraints for the pionic gluon distribution provided by direct-γ data. Simple parametrizations of the resulting parton distributions are presented in the range 10^?5?x<1 and 0.3?Q ²?10⁸ GeV² as obtained from the leading-and higher-order evolution equations.     

Generalized parton distributions

We discuss how generalized parton distributions (GPDs) enter in a variety of hard exclusive processes such as deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS) and hard meson electroproduction reactions on the nucleon. We show some key observables which are sensitive to the various hadron structure aspects of the GPDs, and discuss their experimental status.Received: 30 September 2002, Published online: 22 October 2003PACS: 13.60.Fz Elastic and Compton scattering - 13.60.Le Meson production - 12.38.Bx Perturbative calculations     

Generalized parton distributions

An introductory review of generalized parton distributions (GPDs) is given.Received: 1 November 2002, Published online: 15 July 2003PACS: 13.40.Gp Electromagnetic form factors - 13.60.Fz Elastic and Compton scattering - 13.60.Hb Total and inclusive cross-sections (including deep-inelastic processes)     

Nuclear exclusive vector meson photoproduction

We calculate the nuclear cross section for vector meson exclusive photoproduction within the QCD color dipole picture and in the Regge approach. For the former approach, we have considered the phenomenological saturation model, whereas for the latter we use a model based on the dipole pomeron framework. Theoretical estimates for scattering on both light and heavy nuclei are given over a large range of energy.Received: 17 April 2004, Revised: 21 September 2004, Published online: 18 November 2004     

Modeling of exclusive parton distributions and long-range rapidity correlations in proton-proton collisions at the LHC energies

The soft part of proton-proton interaction is considered within a phenomenological model that involves the formation of color strings. Under the assumption that an elementary collision is associated with the interaction of two color dipoles, the total inelastic cross section and the multiplicity of charged particles are estimated in order to fix model parameters. Particular attention is given to modeling of exclusive parton distributions with allowance for the energy-conservation law and for fixing the center of mass, which are necessary for describing correlations. An algorithm that describes the fusion of strings in the transverse plane and which takes into account their finite rapidity width is developed. The influence of string-fusion effects on long-range correlations is found within this mechanism.     

Structure functions and parton distributions

We review recent developments in the determination of parton densities from deep inelastic and related data. We show how the asymmetries observed in theW ^± rapidity distributions and inpp/pn Drell-Yan production further constrain the partons at moderatex.     

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     

Central exclusive meson pair production in the perturbative regime at hadron colliders

The central exclusive production (CEP) of heavy resonance states that subsequently decay into meson pairs, \(M\overline{M}\), is an important signature for such processes at hadron colliders. However, there is a potentially important background from the direct QCD production of meson pairs, as mediated for example by the exclusive \(gg\to M\overline{M}\) hard scattering subprocess. This is in fact an interesting process in its own right, testing novel aspects of perturbative QCD technology. We explicitly calculate the \(gg \to M\overline{M}\) helicity amplitudes for different meson states within the hard exclusive formalism, and comment on the application of MHV techniques to the calculation. Using these results, we describe how meson pair CEP can be calculated in the perturbative regime, and present some sample numerical predictions for a variety of final states. We also briefly consider the dominant non-perturbative contributions, which are expected to be important when the meson transverse momentum is small.     

The diffraction cone for exclusive vector meson production in deep inelastic scattering

We develop the color dipole gBFKL phenomenology of a diffraction cone for photo-and electroproduction γ*N−VN of heavy vector mesons (charmonium & bottomonium) at HERA and in fixed target experiments. We predict a substantial shrinkage of the diffraction cone from the CERN/FNAL to the HERA range of c.m.s. energy W. The Q ²-controlled sensitivity to the color dipole size (scanning phenomenon) is shown to lead to a decrease of the diffraction slope with Q ² (which is supported by the available experimental data). We predict an approximate flavor independence of the diffraction slope in the scaling variable Q ²+m _V ² . For diffractive production of the radially excited 2S states (Ψ′, γ′), a counterintuitive inequality of diffraction slopes B(2S)≲B(1S) is predicted, which defies the common wisdom that diffraction slopes are larger for reactions with larger size particles. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 113, 1930–1962 (June 1998) Published in English in the original Russian journal. Reproduced here with stylistic changes by the Translation Editor.     

Structure functions and parton distributions

We review recent developments in the determination of parton densities from deep inelastic and related data. We show how the asymmetries observed in theW ^± rapidity distributions and inpp/pn Drell-Yan production further constrain the partons at moderatex.