arXiv subjects

Sreeraj Nair

Publications and source records attributed to Sreeraj Nair.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Nuclear matter and proton parton distributions in a light-front Hamiltonian framework

We develop a light-front Hamiltonian formulation of symmetric nuclear matter within the quark-meson coupling model, using Basis Light-Front Quantization to solve the in-medium nucleon eigenvalue problem. The Hamiltonian incorporates confinement in the valence sector and is truncated to include up to one dynamical gluon. Medium effects are introduced via scalar and vector mean fields, yielding a self-consistent, density-dependent effective quark mass and modified nucleon structure. The resulting energy per nucleon, pressure, and incompressibility are consistent with empirical constraints at the saturation point. At nuclear saturation density, the gluon probability in the nucleon wave function increases slightly, while the valence probability and quark momentum fraction decrease. The unpolarized quark and gluon distributions show a noticeable enhancement at large momentum fraction ($x \gtrsim 0.4$), illustrated at an evolved scale of $Q^{2} = 10 \mathrm{GeV}^{2}$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2026

Gravitational form factors of light mesons from Basis Light-Front Quantization

We compute the gravitational form factors (GFFs) of the pion and kaon using their light-front wave functions within the Basis Light-Front Quantization framework. The wave functions are obtained by solving a light-front effective Hamiltonian that incorporates three-dimensional confinement along with a color-singlet Nambu--Jona-Lasinio interaction between the constituent quark and antiquark. The form factor $A(Q^2)$ is found to be in overall agreement with recent lattice QCD and dispersive results. In contrast, $D(Q^2)$ is enhanced in magnitude at low $Q^2$ relative to both lattice QCD and dispersive determinations. This behavior arises from extracting the $D$-term using transverse components of the QCD energy--momentum tensor, which are more sensitive to the small-$x$ region and to light-front zero-mode effects in the present truncated framework. Using the resulting GFFs, we determine the mass (matter) and mechanical radii of the pion and kaon and analyze their mechanical structure through the corresponding pressure and shear-force distributions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2026

Baryon Bethe-Salpeter Equation in Minkowski-Space QCD$_2$

We study the three-quark ladder Bethe--Salpeter equation in Minkowski-space QCD$_2$ in the light-cone gauge. Using the quasi-potential expansion, we project the baryon equation onto the light front and show that, at leading order in the valence truncation, the resulting mass-squared eigenvalue equation is equivalent to the Bars--Durgut equation. We also derive the endpoint power-law behavior of the valence wave function in terms of the quark mass and coupling, closely paralleling the original 't Hooft analysis for mesons. The resulting three-quark equation is solved numerically for $N_c=3$, and the ground-state baryon mass is found to be in reasonable agreement with previous light-cone quantization results in QCD$_2$, suggesting that the valence sector provides the dominant contribution to the ground state. The excited-state spectrum further yields a Regge trajectory that captures the overall trend of the experimental nucleon spectrum, and we compute selected structure observables, including parton distribution functions, double distribution amplitudes, and coordinate-space densities. This framework provides a useful confining test bed for Minkowski-space bound-state methods and for future developments toward confining formulations in 3+1 dimensions beyond the valence truncation.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Double parton distributions of the proton from basis light-front quantization

Within the basis light-front quantization framework, we systematically investigate the unpolarized and longitudinally polarized double parton distributions (DPDs) of quarks inside the proton. We utilize the light-front wave functions of the proton derived in the valence sector from a Hamiltonian quantized on the light-front. The interaction terms of the Hamiltonian consist of a one-gluon exchange interaction at fixed coupling and a three-dimensional confinement potential. Our current analysis yields significant correlations of the quarks' longitudinal momenta with their transverse separation. We also demonstrate that our calculations do not support the commonly used $x-\vec{k}_\perp$ factorization of the DPDs in $x$ and $k_\perp$. Our results are qualitatively consistent with those of other phenomenological models.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Proton Gravitational Structure and Mass Decomposition on the Light Front

Gravitational form factors (GFFs) of hadrons encode essential information about the internal distributions of mass, spin, pressure, and shear among their quark and gluon constituents. We compute the quark and gluon GFFs of the proton using a fully relativistic, nonperturbative framework based on a light-front quantized Hamiltonian with quantum chromodynamics (QCD) input. This allows us to quantify the impact of a dynamical gluon on the proton's mechanical properties, such as pressure and shear distributions. Our predictions agree well with recent lattice QCD results and experimental extractions. We also determine the proton's mass and mechanical radii and address the long-standing puzzle of its mass decomposition. At the scale $μ^2 = 4~\mathrm{GeV}^2$, we find that quark energy, gluon field energy, the quark condensate, and the QCD trace anomaly contribute $31.5\%$, $34.7\%$, $11.3\%$, and $22.5\%$, respectively, which are consistent with lattice QCD findings.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

Chiral-odd gluon generalized parton distributions in the proton: A light-front quantization approach

Within the basis light-front quantization (BLFQ) framework, we evaluate the gluon chiral-odd generalized parton distributions (GPDs) inside the proton at zero skewness. We employ the light-front wave functions of the proton obtained from a light-front quantized Hamiltonian with quantum chromodynamics input using BLFQ. Our investigation encompasses both the valence Fock sector with three constituent quarks and an additional sector containing three quarks and a dynamical gluon. We analyze the gluon GPDs in the momentum space as well as in the transverse position space. We further present the gluon's generalized form factors derived from the Mellin moments of its chiral-odd GPDs. Using the proton transverse spin sum rule, we also present the $x$-dependence of the angular momentum carried by the polarized gluon and determine the relative contributions of quarks and the gluon to the transversity asymmetry.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

Gravitational Form Factors and Mechanical Properties of Quarks in Protons: A Basis Light-Front Quantization Approach

We compute the gravitational form factors (GFFs) and study their applications for the description of the mechanical properties such as the pressure, shear force distributions, and the mechanical radius of the proton from its light-front wave functions (LFWFs) based on basis light-front quantization (BLFQ). The LFWFs of the proton are given by the lowest eigenvector of a light-front effective Hamiltonian that incorporates a three-dimensional confining potential and a one-gluon exchange interaction with fixed coupling between the constituent quarks solved in the valence Fock sector. We find acceptable agreement between our BLFQ computations and the lattice QCD for the GFFs. Our $D$-term form factor also agrees well with the extracted data from the deeply virtual Compton scattering experiments at Jefferson Lab, and the results of different phenomenological models. The distributions of pressures and shear forces are similar to those from different models.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Generalized parton distributions of gluon in proton: a light-front quantization approach

We solve for the gluon generalized parton distributions (GPDs) inside the proton, focusing specifically on leading twist chiral-even GPDs. We obtain and employ the light-front wavefunctions (LFWFs) of the proton from a light-front quantized Hamiltonian with Quantum Chromodynamics input using basis light-front quantization (BLFQ). Our investigation incorporates the valence Fock sector with three constituent quarks and an additional Fock sector, encompassing three quarks and a dynamical gluon. We examine the GPDs within impact parameter space and evaluate the $x$-dependence of the transverse square radius. We find that the transverse size of the gluon at lower-$x$ is larger than that of the quark, while it exhibits opposite behavior at large-$x$. Using the proton spin sum rule, we also determine the relative contributions of quarks and the gluon to the total angular momentum of the proton.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Sum rules for the Gravitational Form Factors using light-front dressed quark state

We consider a light-front dressed quark state, per se, instead of a proton state, we consider a simple composite spin-1/2 state of a quark dressed with a gluon. This perturbative model incorporates gluonic degrees of freedom, which enable us to evaluate the gravitational form factors (GFFs) of the quark as well as the gluon in this model \cite{More:2021stk, More:2023pcy}. We employ the Hamiltonian framework and choose the light-front gauge $A^+=0$. We calculate the four GFFs and corroborate the sum rules that GFFs satisfy. The GFF $D$ is attributed to information like pressure, shear, and energy distributions. We analyze some of these distributions for a dressed quark state at one loop in QCD.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Real and virtual photons within basis light-front quantization

We compute the structure function, transverse momentum dependent parton distributions (TMDs), and generalized parton distributions (GPDs) for the physical photon from the light-front quantum electrodynamics (QED) Hamiltonian, determined for its constituent bare photon and electron-positron Fock components within the Basis Light-Front Quantization framework. After performing nonperturbative renormalization, we obtain a good quality description of the perturbative QED properties of the photon, as well as good agreement with the experimental data for the photon's structure function. We also investigate the TMDs and GPDs of the space-like and the time-like virtual photon by incorporating a nonzero photon mass.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Gluon contribution to the mechanical properties of a dressed quark in light-front Hamiltonian QCD

We calculate the contribution to the gravitational form factors (GFFs) from the gluon part of the energy-momentum tensor in QCD. We take a simple spin $1/2$ composite state, namely a quark dressed with a gluon. We use the light-front Hamiltonian QCD approach in the light-front gauge. We also present the effect of the gluon on the mechanical properties like the pressure, shear and energy distributions of the dressed quark state.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

Basis light-front quantization approach to photon

We solve for the light-front wave functions (LFWFs) of the physical photon from the eigenvectors of the light-front quantum electrodynamics (QED) Hamiltonian with the aim to determine its bare photon and electron-positron Fock components. We then employ the resulting LFWFs to compute the transverse momentum dependent parton distributions (TMDs) and the generalized parton distributions (GPDs) of the photon. The TMDs are found to be in excellent agreement with the lowest-order perturbative results calculated using the electron-positron quantum fluctuation of the photon. The GPDs are also consistent with the perturbative calculations.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Gravitational form factors and mechanical properties of a quark at one loop in light-front Hamiltonian QCD

We calculate the gravitational form factors (GFFs) and pressure, shear and energy distributions for a quark state dressed with a gluon at one loop in QCD. We use the light-front Hamiltonian approach. In the light-front gauge, we use a two-component formalism to eliminate the constrained fields. The state may be thought of as a perturbative model for a relativistic spin $1/2$ composite system having a gluonic degree of freedom. We compare the results with model calculations for a nucleon.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Generalized parton distributions and spin structures of light mesons from a light-front Hamiltonian approach

We present the generalized parton distributions (GPDs) for the valence quarks of the pion and the kaon in both momentum space and position space within the basis light-front quantization framework. These GPDs are obtained from the eigenvectors of a light-front effective Hamiltonian consisting of the holographic quantum chromodynamics (QCD) confinement potential, a complementary longitudinal confinement potential, and the color-singlet Nambu-Jona--Lasinio interactions for the valence quarks of mesons. We then calculate the generalized form factors of the pion and the kaon from the moments of these GPDs. Combining the tensor form factors with the electromagnetic form factors, we subsequently evaluate the impact parameter dependent probability density of transversely polarized quarks inside the pion and the kaon. The numerical results for the generalized form factors, tensor charges, as well as those for the probability densities and the transverse shift of the polarized densities are consistent with lattice QCD simulations and with chiral quark models.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Pion to photon transition form factors with basis light-front quantization

We obtain the distribution amplitude (DA) of the pion from its light-front wave functions in the basis light-front quantization framework. This light-front wave function of the pion is given by the lowest eigenvector of a light-front effective Hamiltonian consisting a three-dimensional confinement potential and the color-singlet Nambu--Jona-Lasinion interaction both between the constituent quark and antiquark. The quantum chromodynamics (QCD) evolution of the DA is subsequently given by the perturbative Efremov-Radyushkin-Brodsky-Lepage evolution equation. Based on this DA, we then evaluate the singly and doubly virtual transition form factors in the space-like region for $π^0\rightarrow γ^*γ$ and $π^0\rightarrow γ^*γ^*$ processes using the hard-scattering formalism. Our prediction for the pion-photon transition form factor agrees well with data reported by the Belle Collaboration. However, in the large $Q^2$ region it deviates from the rapid growth reported by the BaBar Collaboration. Meanwhile, our result on the $π^0\rightarrow γ^*γ^*$ transition form factor is also consistent with other theoretical approaches and agrees with the scaling behavior predicted by perturbative QCD.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Proton gravitational form factors in a light-front quark-diquark model

We present a recent calculation of the gravitational form factors (GFFs) of proton using the light-front quark-diquark model constructed by the soft-wall AdS/QCD. The four GFFs $~A(Q^2)$ , $B(Q^2)$ , $C(Q^2)$ and $\bar{C}(Q^2)$ are calculated in this model. We also show the pressure and shear distributions of quarks inside the proton. The GFFs, $A(Q^2)$ and $B(Q^2)$ are found to be consistent with the lattice QCD, while the qualitative behavior of the $D$-term form factor is in agreement with the extracted data from the deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS) experiments at JLab, the lattice QCD, and the predictions of different phenomenological models.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2020

Gravitational form factors and mechanical properties of proton in a light-front quark-diquark model

We obtain the gravitational form factors (GFFs) and investigate their applications for the description of the mechanical properties, i.e., the distributions of pressures, shear forces inside proton, and the mechanical radius, in a light-front quark-diquark model constructed by the soft-wall AdS/QCD. The GFFs, $A(Q^2)$ and $B(Q^2)$ are found to be consistent with the lattice QCD, while the qualitative behavior of the $D$-term form factor is in agreement with the extracted data from the deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS) experiments at JLab, the lattice QCD, and the predictions of different phenomenological models. The pressure and shear force distributions are also consistent with the results of different models.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2019

Conditions for vacuum instability in holographic theories with dilaton field

We investigate the vacuum instability in the presence of dilaton field in a holographic set up. Although the dilaton is a bulk field, it leads to the vacuum instability on the boundary. We show that the whole process crucially depends on the probe brane position and as well on the radial coordinate. So that the effects of dilaton scale parameter in different regions of the bulk or for different probe brane positions are different. We also observe that in our study the temperature can strengthen the effect of scale parameter in reducing the potential barrier. Finally, we show that this Schwinger-like effect, although is interesting by itself, does not produce a considerable pair production rate.

hep-th↗