Nucleon Structure Functions from Operator Product Expansion on the Lattice

Area of Science:

• Nuclear Physics
• Quantum Chromodynamics
• Particle Physics

Background:

• Deep-inelastic scattering experiments probe the internal structure of nucleons.
• Understanding nucleon structure functions is crucial for fundamental physics.
• Previous lattice calculations were limited to model-dependent approaches.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel, first-principles method for computing nucleon structure functions.
• To overcome limitations in current lattice quantum chromodynamics (QCD) calculations.
• To enable direct computation of structure functions from the Compton amplitude.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing the operator product expansion (OPE) on the lattice.
• Directly computing structure functions from the virtual Compton amplitude.
• Addressing issues of renormalization and operator mixing in lattice calculations.

Main Results:

• A new method for calculating structure functions directly from the Compton amplitude is proposed.
• The method circumvents challenges in lattice calculations of power corrections and higher moments.
• This facilitates first-principles computation of nucleon structure functions.

Conclusions:

• The proposed method offers a significant advancement for lattice QCD calculations of structure functions.
• It paves the way for more accurate, first-principles determination of nucleon properties.
• This research overcomes key hurdles in understanding quark-gluon interactions within nucleons.