We discuss the process of deep-inelastic electron scattering (DIS) on the polarized deuteron with detection of a nucleon in the nuclear fragmentation region (spectator tagging). We cover (a) the general structure of the semi-inclusive DIS cross section on a spin-1 target; (b) the tagged structure functions in the impulse approximation, where deuteron structure is described by the $NN$ light-front wave function; (c) the extraction of free neutron structure through on-shell extrapolation in the recoil proton momentum. As an application we consider the extraction of the neutron spin structure function $g_{1n}$ through polarized electron scattering on the longitudinally polarized deuteron with proton tagging and on-shell extrapolation. Such measurements would be possible at an Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) with polarized deuteron beams and forward proton detectors.
Background: DIS on the polarized deuteron with detection of a proton in the nuclear breakup region (spectator tagging) represents a unique method for extracting the neutron spin structure functions and studying nuclear modifications. The tagged proton momentum controls the nuclear configuration during the DIS process and enables a differential analysis of nuclear effects. Such measurements could be performed with the future electron-ion collider (EIC) and forward proton detectors if deuteron beam polarization could be achieved. Purpose: Develop theoretical framework for polarized deuteron DIS with spectator tagging. Formulate procedures for neutron spin structure extraction. Methods: A covariant spin density matrix formalism is used to describe general deuteron polarization in collider experiments (vector/tensor, pure/mixed). Light-front (LF) quantum mechanics is employed to factorize nuclear and nucleonic structure in the DIS process. A 4-dimensional representation of LF spin structure is used to construct the polarized deuteron LF wave function and efficiently evaluate the spin sums. Free neutron structure is extracted using the impulse approximation and analyticity in the tagged proton momentum (pole extrapolation). Results: General expressions of the polarized tagged DIS observables in collider experiments. Analytic and numerical study of the polarized deuteron LF spectral function and nucleon momentum distributions. Practical procedures for neutron spin structure extraction from the tagged deuteron spin asymmetries. Conclusions: Spectator tagging provides new tools for precise neutron spin structure measurements. D-wave depolarization and nuclear binding effects can be eliminated through the tagged proton momentum dependence. The methods can be extended to tensor-polarized observables, spin-orbit effects, and diffractive processes.
We analyze the structure of generalized off-diagonal and transverse-momentum dependent quark-quark and gluon-gluon correlators for a spin-1/2 hadron. Using the light-front formalism, we provide a parametrization in terms of the parton generalized transverse-momentum dependent distributions that emphasizes the multipole structure of the correlator. The results for the quark-quark correlation functions are consistent with an alternative parametrization given in terms of Lorentz covariant structures. The parametrization for the gluon-gluon generalized correlator is presented for the first time and allows one to introduce new correlation functions which can be relevant for phenomenological applications.
We study a transverse momentum dependent (TMD) factorization framework for the processes of di-jet and heavy meson pair production in deep-inelastic-scattering in an electron-proton collider, considering the measurement of the transverse momentum imbalance of the two hard probes in the Breit frame. For the factorization theorem we employ soft-collinear and boosted-heavy-quark effective field theories. The factorized cross-section for both processes is sensitive to gluon unpolarized and linearly polarized TMD distributions and requires the introduction of a new soft function. We calculate the new soft function here at one loop, regulating rapidity divergences with the $delta$-regulator. In addition, using a factorization consistency relation and a universality argument regarding the heavy-quark jet function, we obtain the anomalous dimension of the new soft function at two loops.
The diffractive electro- or photo-production of two mesons separated by a large rapidity gap gives access to generalized parton distributions (GPDs) in a very specific way. First, these reactions allow to easily access the chiral-odd transversity quark GPDs by selecting one of the produced vector meson to be transversely polarized. Second, they are only sensitive to the so-called ERBL region where GPDs are not much constrained by forward quark distributions. Third, the skewness parameter $xi$ is not related to the Bjorken $x_text{Bj}$ variable, but to the size of the rapidity gap. We analyze different channels ($rho_L^0,rho_{L/T}, rho^0_L,omega_{L/T}$ and $rho^0_L,pi$ production) on nucleon and deuteron targets. The analysis is performed in the kinematical domain where a large momentum transfer from the photon to the diffractively produced vector meson introduces a hard scale (the virtuality of the exchanged hard Pomeron). This enables the description of the hadronic part of the process in the framework of collinear factorization of GPDs. We show that the unpolarized cross sections depend very much on the parameterizations of both chiral-even and chiral-odd quark distributions of the nucleon, as well as on the shape of the meson distribution amplitudes. The rates are shown to be in the range of the capacities of a future electron-ion collider.
We provide the complete decomposition of the local gauge-invariant energy-momentum tensor for spin-1 hadrons, including non-conserved terms for the individual parton flavors and antisymmetric contributions originating from intrinsic spin. We state sum rules for the gravitational form factors appearing in this decomposition and provide relations for the mass decomposition, work balance, total and orbital angular momentum, mass radius, and inertia tensor. Generalizing earlier work, we derive relations between the total and orbital angular momentum and the Mellin moments of twist-2 and 3 generalized parton distributions, accessible in hard exclusive processes with spin-1 targets. Throughout the work, we comment on the unique features in these relations originating from the spin-1 nature of the hadron, being absent in the lower spin cases.