arXiv · 2610.18063
Color Lorentz force on a transversely polarized quark in the nucleon
Abstract
The $x^2$ moment of the genuine twist-3 component of the unpolarized scalar parton distribution function $e(x)$ is related to the average transverse color Lorentz force experienced by a transversely polarized quark in an unpolarized nucleon. This higher-twist quantity probes quark--gluon correlations and provides unique insight into the nonperturbative dynamics of quantum chromodynamics. For the first time, we study the corresponding off-forward matrix element and derive its Lorentz-covariant decomposition in terms of generalized form factors. We calculate these form factors from light-front wave functions obtained by solving the light-front Hamiltonian eigenvalue problem within the Basis Light-Front Quantization framework. Their Fourier transforms provide a spatial picture of the transverse color forces in impact-parameter space. In particular, $\mathscr{F}_2$, whose forward limit is directly related to the twist-3 matrix element $e_2$, can be interpreted as the impact-parameter-space representation of the Boer--Mulders force, providing an intuitive spatial picture of the final-state interaction mechanism underlying the Boer--Mulders effect.
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Ziqi Zhang, Chandan Mondal, Siqi Xu, Xingbo Zhao, James P. Vary. 2026-10-13. Color Lorentz force on a transversely polarized quark in the nucleon. https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.18063
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