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In the Standard Model of particle physics, the axial current is not conserved, due both to fermion masses and to the axial anomaly. Using perturbative quantum chromodynamics, we calculate matrix elements of the local and non-local axial current for a gluon target, clarifying their connection with the axial anomaly. In so doing, we also reconsider classic results obtained in the context of the nucleon spin sum rule as well as recent results for off-forward kinematics. An important role is played by the infrared regulator, for which we put a special emphasis on the nonzero quark mass. We highlight cancellations that take place between contributions from the axial anomaly and the quark mass, and we elaborate on the relation of those cancellations with the conservation of angular momentum.

Phenomenological studies of transverse momentum dependent (TMD) parton distributions rely on the expansion in small values of the transverse separation of fields, where TMD parton distributions match onto collinear parton distribution functions. In this work, we derive this expansion at tree-level for the genuine next-to-leading power quark-gluon-quark TMDs, taking into account all the target mass corrections. We find that only a limited number of TMD parton distributions exhibit matching to twist-three collinear distributions, leading to a significant simplification in the analysis of the structure functions of semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering.

We calculate the gravitational form factors of the electron at one loop in quantum electrodynamics, decomposing these into contributions from the electron and photon parts of the energy momentum tensor. Ultraviolet divergences are removed through renormalization in the MS‾ scheme. Infrared divergences are isolated and results are given in both dimensional regularization and photon-mass regularization. The form factors contain information about the electron's energy and angular momentum structure in QED, as well as its mass radius. Whenever possible, we compare our results with the existing literature.

Abstract We review and examine in detail recent developments regarding the question of the nucleon mass decomposition. We discuss in particular the virial theorem in quantum field theory and its implications for the nucleon mass decomposition and mechanical equilibrium. We reconsider the renormalization of the QCD energy-momentum tensor in minimal-subtraction-type schemes and the physical interpretation of its components, as well as the role played by the trace anomaly and Poincaré symmetry. We also study the concept of “quantum anomalous energy” proposed in some works as a new contribution to the nucleon mass. Examining the various arguments, we conclude that the quantum anomalous energy is not a genuine contribution to the mass sum rule, as a consequence of translation symmetry.

The electron-graviton interaction can be described in terms of the gravitational form factors of the QED energy-momentum tensor. Here we focus on the form factor D(t), and we examine its properties and its interpretation in terms of internal forces at one-loop accuracy in QED. We perform the calculation by keeping separate the contributions due to the electron and the photon parts of the energy-momentum tensor. We also study the case of a nonzero photon mass. Furthermore, we discuss similarities with and differences to the form factor D(t) of hadronic bound states.

We discuss the twist-three, unpolarized, chiral-odd, transverse momentum dependent parton distribution (TMD) eq(x,k⊥) within a light-front model. We review a model-independent decomposition of this TMD, which follows from the QCD equations of motion and is given in terms of a mass term, a pure interaction-dependent contribution, and singular terms. The mass-term and pure twist-three contributions are represented in terms of overlap of light-front wave functions (LFWFs), taking into account the Fock states with three valence quark (3q) and three-quark plus one gluon (3q+g). The 3q and 3q+g LFWFs with total orbital angular momentum zero are modeled using a parametrization derived from the conformal expansion of the proton distribution amplitudes, with parameters fitted to reproduce available phenomenological information on the unpolarized leading-twist quark and gluon collinear parton distributions. Numerical predictions for both the quark TMD eq(x,k⊥) and the collinear parton distribution eq(x) are presented, discussing the role of the quark–gluon correlations in the proton. Keywords: Higher-twist transverse momentum dependent parton distributions, Quark–gluon correlations, Light-front wave functions

We discuss in detail the spatial distribution of angular momentum inside the nucleon. We show that the discrepancies between different definitions originate from terms that integrate to zero. Even though these terms can safely be dropped at the integrated level, they have to be taken into account when discussing distributions. Using the scalar diquark model, we illustrate our results and, for the first time, check explicitly that the equivalence between kinetic and canonical orbital angular momentum persists at the level of distributions, as expected in a system without gauge degrees of freedom.

We study the internal structure of the pion using a model inspired by the AdS/QCD correspondence. The holographic approach provides the light-front wave function (LFWF) for the leading Fock-state component of the pion. We adopt two different forms for the LFWF derived from the AdS/QCD soft-wall model, with free parameters fitted to the available experimental information on the pion electromagnetic form factor and the leading-twist parton distribution function. The intrinsic scale of the model is taken as an additional fit parameter. Within this framework, we provide predictions for the unpolarized transverse momentum dependent parton distribution (TMD), and discuss its property both at the scale of the model and after TMD evolution to higher scales that are relevant for upcoming experimental measurements. Keywords: AdS/QCD correspondence, Pion TMD, TMD evolution

We consider one of the most fundamental sets of hadronic matrix elements, namely the generalized transverse momentum dependent distributions (GTMDs), and argue that their existing definitions lack proper evolution properties. By exploiting the similarity of GTMDs with the much better understood transverse momentum distributions, we argue that the existing definitions of GTMDs have to include an additional dependence on soft gluon radiation in order to render them properly defined. With this, we manage to obtain the evolution kernel of all (un)polarized quark and gluon GTMDs, which turns out to be spin independent. As a byproduct, all large logarithms can be resummed up to next-to-next-to-leading-logarithmic accuracy with the currently known perturbative ingredients.

We present the results for the Energy-Momentum Tensor (EMT) form factor D(t) at oneloop accuracy in quantum electrodynamics for an electron state. We report the the results in the case of both zero and nonzero photon mass. Moreover, individual electron and photon contributions to the EMT are investigated.

Understanding the proton mass in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is a very important and current topic in hadronic physics. The decomposition (sum rule) of the proton mass is not unique, and different sum rules, which are related to the QCD energy-momentum tensor, can be found in the literature. We review and compare these sum rules and identify open questions in this field.