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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 $\overline{\text{MS}}$ 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., 8 pages, 1 figure

We present the results for the Energy-Momentum Tensor (EMT) form factor D(t) at one-loop 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.

We performed the first simultaneous extraction of the six leading-order proton polarizabilities. We reached this milestone thanks to both new high-quality experimental data and an innovative bootstrap-based fitting method. These new results provide a self-consistent and fundamental benchmark for all future theoretical and experimental polarizability estimates.

The Virtual Compton scattering (VCS) process at low energies explores the electromagnetic structure of the proton in terms of generalized polarizabilities (GPs). In the one-photon exchange approximation, VCS can be accessed with exclusive photon production reactions with electron or positron beams. The extraction of the GPs from VCS with electron beam has seen substantial progress over the past two decades. Nonetheless, a consistent picture of the GPs from low to higher scales demands further investigations. Complementary measurements with positron beams offer an unique possibility, and we present an impact study of such experimental program., 9 pages, 7 figures, invited article for the EPJA Topical Issue about "Positron beams and physics at Jefferson Lab"

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., 18 pages, 6 figures; accepted for publication in Phys. Lett. B

Positron beams, both polarized and unpolarized, are identified as essential ingredients for the experimental programs at the next generation of lepton accelerators. In the context of the hadronic physics program at Jefferson Lab (JLab), positron beams are complementary, even essential, tools for a precise understanding of the electromagnetic structure of nucleons and nuclei, in both the elastic and deep-inelastic regimes. For instance, elastic scattering of polarized and unpolarized electrons and positrons from the nucleon enables a model independent determination of its electromagnetic form factors. Also, the deeply-virtual scattering of polarized and unpolarized electrons and positrons allows unambiguous separation of the different contributions to the cross section of the lepto-production of photons and of lepton-pairs, enabling an accurate determination of the nucleons and nuclei generalized parton distributions, and providing an access to the gravitational form factors. Furthermore, positron beams offer the possibility of alternative tests of the Standard Model of particle physics through the search of a dark photon, the precise measurement of electroweak couplings, and the investigation of charged lepton flavor violation. This document discusses the perspectives of an experimental program with high duty-cycle positron beams at JLab., Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures This version superseeds the previous version which scientific content was decomposed into several more elaborated articles. All of these articles will be collected in the EPJ A Topical Issue about "Positron beam and physics at Jefferson Lab (e+@Jlab)"

Different decompositions (sum rules) for the proton mass have been proposed in the literature. All of them are related to the energy-momentum tensor in quantum chromodynamics. We review and revisit these decompositions by paying special attention to recent developments with regard to the renormalization of the energy-momentum tensor. The connection between the sum rules is discussed as well. We present numerical results for the various terms of the mass decompositions up to 3 loops in the strong coupling, and consider their scheme dependence. We also elaborate on the role played by the trace anomaly and the sigma terms., 28 pages; V2: some discussion added, matches PRD version

Journal of physics / G 49(1), 010502 (2022). doi:10.1088/1361-6471/ac2827, Published by IOP Publ., Bristol

We discuss the main properties of different types of parton distribution functions, which provide complementary multidimensional images of the partonic structure of the nucleon. These distributions are the generalized parton distributions, the transverse-momentum dependent parton distributions and the Wigner distributions. They have attracted increasing attention in the last years as they represent new tools to study how the composite structure of the proton results from the underlying quark-gluon dynamics.

Different decompositions of the nucleon mass, in terms of the masses and energies of the underlying constituents, have been proposed in the literature. We explore the corresponding sum rules in quantum electrodynamics for an electron at one-loop order in perturbation theory. To this end we compute the form factors of the energy-momentum tensor, by paying particular attention to the renormalization of ultraviolet divergences, operator mixing and scheme dependence. We clarify the expressions of all the proposed sum rules in the electron rest frame in terms of renormalized operators. Furthermore, we consider the same sum rules in a moving frame, where they become energy decompositions. Finally, we discuss some implications of our study on the mass sum rules for the nucleon., 21 pages, 1 figure; V2: minor changes, references added, to appear in JHEP

The Drell-Yan process provides important information on the internal structure of hadrons including transverse momentum dependent parton distribution functions (TMDs). In this work we present calculations for all leading twist structure functions describing the pion induced Drell-Yan process. The non-perturbative input for the TMDs is taken from the light-front constituent quark model, the spectator model, and available parametrizations of TMDs extracted from the experimental data. TMD evolution is implemented at Next-to-Leading Logarithmic precision for the first time for all asymmetries. Our results are compatible with the first experimental information, help to interpret the data from ongoing experiments, and will allow one to quantitatively assess the models in future when more precise data will become available., Comment: The paper is restructured with new discussions and results, TMD evolution is implemented at Next-to-Leading Logarithmic accuracy for all asymmetries. 27 pages and 10 figures

We review a dispersive calculation of the D-term form factor, using unsubtracted $t$-channel dispersion relations for the deeply virtual Compton scattering amplitudes. The $t$-channel unitarity relation is saturated with the contribution of two-pion intermediate states, using the two-pion generalized distributions amplitude for the $\gamma^*\gamma\rightarrow \pi \pi$ subprocess and reconstructing the $\pi\pi\rightarrow N\bar{N}$ subprocess from available information on pion-nucleon partial-wave helicity amplitudes. The dispersion-relation results are discussed in comparison with available model predictions and phenomenological extractions.

We discuss a T-even, twist-3 transverse momentum dependent parton distribution for unpolarized proton. We review its general, model-independent and gauge-independent decomposition, which follows from the QCD equations of motion and it is given in terms of a lower-twist distribution, a pure twist-3 distribution and singular terms. Then we present the results for the twist-3 distribution, using a light-front wave function (LFWF) overlap representation and taking into account the contribution from the three-quark and the three-quark plus a gluon proton's Fock-states. Predictions are obtained using a model for the LFWFs, based on the conformal expansion of the proton distribution amplitudes. The parameters of the LFWFs are fixed to reproduce phenomenological parametrizations of the collinear twist-two unpolarized parton distribution.

We discuss the advantages of a statistical technique, based on the simplex minimization and on the parametric bootstrap, with respect to the standard $\chi^2$-minimization method. We present the application of this technique for the extraction of the proton scalar dipole dynamical polarizabilities from real Compton scattering data. In particular, we discuss how this technique is able to provide realistic probability distributions of the fitted parameters, with no a-priori assumptions on their shape, and to include the systematic errors in the minimization procedure in a straightforward way.

We perform a fit of the real Compton scattering (RCS) data below pion-production threshold to extract the electric ($\alpha_{E1}$) and magnetic ($\beta_{M1}$) static scalar dipole polarizabilities of the proton, using fixed-$t$ subtracted dispersion relations and a bootstrap-based fitting technique. The bootstrap method provides a convenient tool to include the effects of the systematic errors on the best values of $\alpha_{E1}$ and $\beta_{M1}$ and to propagate the statistical errors of the model parameters fixed by other measurements. We also implement various statistical tests to investigate the consistency of the available RCS data sets below pion-production threshold and we conclude that there are not strong motivations to exclude any data point from the global set. Our analysis yields $\alpha_{E1} = (12.03^{+0.48}_{-0.54})\times 10^{-4} \text{fm}^3$ and $\beta_{M1} = (1.77^{+0.52}_{-0.54})\times 10^{-4} \text{fm}^3$, with p-value $= 12\%$., Comment: 19 pages, 11 figures, 4 tables; final version accepted for publication in J. Phys. G

International audience; We discuss the leading-twist quark Wigner distributions in the nucleon, both in the T-even and T-odd sectors, considering all the possible configurations of the quark and nucleon polarizations. We identify the basic multipole structures associated with each distribution in the transverse phase space, providing a transparent interpretation of the spin-spin and spin-orbit correlations of quarks and nucleons encoded in these functions.

We review various applications of dispersion relations (DRs) to the electromagnetic structure of hadrons. We discuss the way DRs allow one to extract information on hadron structure constants by connecting information from complementary scattering processes. We consider the real and virtual Compton scattering processes off the proton, and summarize recent advances in the DR analysis of experimental data to extract the proton polarizabilities, in comparison with alternative studies based on chiral effective field theories. We discuss a multipole analysis of real Compton scattering data, along with a DR fit of the energy-dependent dynamical polarizabilities. Furthermore, we review new sum rules for the double-virtual Compton scattering process off the proton, which allow for model independent relations between polarizabilities in real and virtual Compton scattering, and moments of nucleon structure functions. The information on the double-virtual Compton scattering is used to predict and constrain the polarizability corrections to muonic hydrogen spectroscopy., preprint version of a review to appear in Ann. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 68 (2018)

We discuss the dispersive representation of the D-term form factor for hard exclusive reactions, using unsubtracted t-channel dispersion relations. This representation provides a microscopical interpretation of the physical content of the D-term form factor in terms of t-channel exchanges with the appropriate quantum numbers. The contribution from two-pion intermediate states is explicitly evaluated, and the corresponding results for the D-term form factor as function of t as well as at t = 0 are discussed in comparison with available model predictions and phenomenological parametrizations.

International audience; The subleading power of the scattering amplitude for deeply-virtual Compton scattering (DVCS) off the nucleon contains leading-twist and twist-3 generalized parton distributions (GPDs). We point out that in DVCS, at twist-3 accuracy, one cannot address any individual twist-3 GPD. This complication appears on top of the deconvolution issues familiar from the twist-2 DVCS amplitude. Accessible are exclusively linear combinations involving both vector and axial-vector twist-3 GPDs. This implies, in particular, that the (kinetic) orbital angular momentum of quarks can hardly be constrained by twist-3 DVCS observables. Moreover, using the quark-target model, we find that twist-3 GPDs can be discontinuous. The discontinuities however cancel in the DVCS amplitude, which further supports the hypothesis of factorization at twist-3 accuracy.

LHCSpin aims at installing a polarized gas target in front of the LHCb spectrometer, bringing, for the first time, polarized physics to the LHC. The project will benefit from the experience achieved with the installation of an unpolarized gas target at LHCb during the LHC Long Shutdown 2. LHCb will then become the first experiment simultaneously running in collider and fixed-target mode with polarized targets, opening a whole new range of explorations to its exceptional spectrometer. LHCSpin will offer a unique opportunity to probe polarized quark and gluon parton distributions in nucleons and nuclei, especially at high $x$ and intermediate $Q^2$, where experimental data are still largely missing. Beside standard collinear parton distribution functions (PDFs), LHCSpin will make it possible to study multidimensional polarized parton distributions that depend also on parton transverse momentum. The study of the multidimensional partonic structure of the nucleon, particularly including polarization effects, can test our knowledge of QCD at an unprecedented level of sophistication, both in the perturbative and nonperturbative regime. At the same time, an accurate knowledge of hadron structure is necessary for precision measurements of Standard Model (SM) observables and discovery of physics beyond the SM. Due to the intricate nature of the strong interaction, it is indispensable to perform the widest possible suite of experimental measurements. It will be ideal to have two new projects complementing each other: a new facility for polarized electron-proton collisions and a new facility for polarized proton-proton collisions. LHCSpin stands out at the moment as the most promising candidate for the second type of project, going beyond the kinematic coverage and the accuracy of the existent experiments, especially on the heavy-quark sector.

We calculate the single spin asymmetry for the $e p \to e \Delta(1232)$ process, for an electron beam polarized normal to the scattering plane. Such single spin asymmetries vanish in the one-photon exchange approximation, and are directly proportional to the absorptive part of a two-photon exchange amplitude. As the intermediate state in such two-photon exchange process is on its mass shell, the asymmetry allows one to access for the first time the on-shell $\Delta \to \Delta$ as well as $N^\ast \to \Delta$ electromagnetic transitions. We present the general formalism to describe the $e p \to e \Delta$ beam normal spin asymmetry, and provide a numerical estimate of its value using the nucleon, $\Delta(1232)$, $S_{11}(1535)$, and $D_{13}(1520)$ intermediate states. We compare our results with the first data from the Qweak@JLab experiment and give predictions for the A4@MAMI experiment.

We present the first attempt to extract the scalar dipole dynamical polarizabilities from proton real Compton scattering data below pion-production threshold. The theoretical framework combines dispersion relations technique, low-energy expansion and multipole decomposition of the scattering amplitudes. The results are obtained with statistical tools that have never been applied so far to Compton scattering data and are crucial to overcome problems inherent to the analysis of the available data set., 8 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables; extended version to appear in Phys. Rev. C

We evaluate the two-photon exchange correction to the elastic electron-proton scattering cross section within a dispersive framework. Besides the elastic contribution, we account for all $\ensuremath{\pi}N$ intermediate state contributions using the phenomenological MAID fit as an input. We develop a novel method for the analytical continuation of the two-photon exchange amplitudes into the unphysical region and generalize our previous work to the momentum transfer region $0.064\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{GeV}}^{2}\ensuremath{\lesssim}{Q}^{2}\ensuremath{\lesssim}1\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{GeV}}^{2}$. We compare our results with recent OLYMPUS, CLAS and VEPP-3 data as well as with empirical fits and estimates in the forward angular region.

We evaluate the pion-nucleon intermediate-state contribution to the two-photon exchange (TPE) correction in the elastic electron-nucleon scattering within a dispersive framework. We calculate the contribution from all $\ensuremath{\pi}N$ partial waves using the MAID parametrization. We provide the corresponding TPE correction to the unpolarized $ep$ scattering cross section in the region of low momentum transfer ${Q}^{2}\ensuremath{\lesssim}0.064\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{GeV}}^{2}$, where no analytical continuation into the unphysical region of the TPE scattering amplitudes is required. We compare our result in the forward angular region with an alternative TPE calculation, in terms of structure functions, and find a good agreement, indicating a small contribution at low ${Q}^{2}$ due to discontinuities beyond $\ensuremath{\pi}N$. We also compare our results with empirical fits.

In the literature one can find two different expressions for the gauge-field propagator in light-cone gauge, containing the sum of three rather than two terms. The question of which of the two is the correct one has been a subject of debate. We propose a solution to this question by evaluating one-loop level processes in QED, both in the covariant approach in the light-cone gauge and in the light-front time-ordered perturbation theory (TOPT) approach, proving the equivalence between the two formulations of the theory. The form of the propagator turns out to be crucial in the proof, in particular as concerns its relation with the diagrams containing instantaneously propagating photons and instantaneous interactions. We show that the diagrams in light-front TOPT with instantaneous photons can be recovered in the covariant approach starting from the propagators with only two terms. Our proof of the equivalence clarifies which form should be used for the gauge-field propagator in the covariant approach. This result naturally applies to the QCD case also.

We discuss the quark Wigner distributions which represent the quantum-mechanical analogues of the classical phase-space distributions. These functions can be obtained through a Fourier transform in the transverse space of the generalized transverse momentum dependent parton distributions, which encode the most general one-body information of partons in momentum space. In particular, we present a study within light-front quark models. The quark orbital angular momentum is also obtained from the phase-space average of the orbital angular momentum operator weighted with the Wigner distribution of unpolarized quark in a longitudinally polarized nucleon. The corresponding results calculated within different light-front quark models are compared with alternative definitions of the quark orbital angular momentum as given in terms of generalized parton distributions and transverse momentum dependent parton distributions.

Parton distribution functions (PDFs) are nonperturbative objects defined by nonlocal light-cone correlations. They cannot be computed directly from Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). Using a standard lattice QCD approach, it is possible to compute moments of PDFs, which are matrix elements of local operators. Recently, an alternative approach has been proposed, based on the introduction of quasi-parton distribution functions (quasi-PDFs), which are matrix elements of equal-time spatial correlations and hence calculable on lattice. Quasi-PDFs approach standard PDFs in the limit of very large longitudinal proton momenta $P^z$. This limit is not attainable in lattice simulations, and quasi-PDFs fail to reproduce PDFs at high fractional longitudinal momenta. In this paper, we propose a method to improve the reconstruction of PDFs by combining information from quasi-PDFs and from the Mellin moments of regular PDFs. We test our method using the diquark spectator model for up and down valence distributions of both unpolarized and helicity PDFs. In the future, the method can be used to produce PDFs entirely based on lattice QCD results., Comment: 12 pages, 7 double-panel figures in pdf, RevTeX4-1

The unpolarized, helicity and transversity parton distribution functions of the nucleon are studied within a convolution model where the bare nucleon is dressed by its virtual meson cloud. Using light-front time-ordered perturbation theory, the Fock states of the physical nucleon are expanded in a series involving a bare nucleon and two-particle, meson-baryon, states. The bare baryons and mesons are described with light-front wave functions (LFWFs) for the corresponding valence-parton components. Using a representation in terms of overlap of LFWFs, the role of the non-perturbative antiquark degrees of freedom and the valence quark contribution at the input scale of the model is discussed for the leading-twist collinear parton distributions. After introducing perturbative QCD effects through evolution to experimental scales, the results are compared with available data and phenomenological extractions. Predictions for the nucleon tensor charge are also presented, finding a very good agreement with recent phenomenological extractions., 20 pages, 9 figures

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., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures

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.

The understanding of the pion structure as described in terms of transverse-momentum dependent parton distribution functions (TMDs) is of importance for the interpretation of currently ongoing Drell-Yan experiments with pion beams. In this work we discuss the description of pion TMDs beyond leading twist in a pion model formulated in the light-front constituent framework. For comparison, we also review and derive new results for pion TMDs in the bag and spectator models., Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures; v2: modified presentation, updated references; matches the journal version

International audience; We discuss different kinds of parton distributions, which allow one to obtain a multidimensional picture of the internal structure of the nucleon. We use the concept of generalized transverse momentum dependent parton distributions and Wigner distributions, which combine the features of transverse-momentum dependent parton distributions and generalized parton distributions. We show examples of these functions within a phenomenological quark model, with focus on the role of the spin-spin and spin-orbit correlations of quarks.

Relativistic phase space distributions are very interesting objects as they allow one to gather the information extracted from various types of experiments into a single coherent picture. Focusing on the four-dimensional transverse phase space, we identified all the possible angular correlations providing at the same time a clear physical interpretation of all the leading-twist generalized and transverse-momentum dependent parton distributions. We also developed a convenient representation of this four-dimensional space., Comment: 9 pages, contribution to the proceedings of the QCD Evolution 2016 Workshop, May 30-June 3, Nikhef, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

We review recent developments in the theoretical investigation of the nucleon polarizabilities. We first report on the static polarizabilities as measured in real Compton scattering, comparing and interpreting the results from various theoretical approaches. In a second step, we extend the discussion to the generalized polarizabilities which can be accessed in virtual Compton scattering, showing how the information encoded in these quantities can provide a spatial interpretation of the induced polarization densities in the nucleon.

We present an extraction of the scalar dipole dynamical polarizabilities from proton real Compton scattering (RCS) data below pion-production threshold. The theoretical approach relies on dispersion relations, and on the low-energy expansion and multipole expansion of the scattering amplitude. The statistical analysis is based on the parametric bootstrap technique, that revealed to be crucial to deal with problems inherent to both the low sensitivity of the RCS cross section to the energy dependence of the dynamical polarizabilities and the poor accuracy of the available data sets.

We study the electron as a system composed by an electron and a photon, using lowest order perturbation theory. We derive the leading-twist transverse-momentum-dependent distribution functions for both the electron and photon in the dressed electron, thereby offering a three-dimensional description of the dressed electron in momentum space. To obtain the distribution functions, we apply both the formalism of light-front wave function overlap representation and the diagrammatic approach. We perform the calculations both in light-cone gauge and Feynman gauge, and we present a detailed discussion of the role of the Wilson lines to obtain gauge-independent results. We provide numerical results and plots for many of the computed distributions., 25 pages, 14 figures