Parton Distribution Functions at a Crossroad
A special issue of Particles (ISSN 2571-712X).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2025 | Viewed by 698
Special Issue Editors
2. Institute for Nonperturbative Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
Interests: nonperturbative quantum field theory; hadron physics; parton distribution functions; form factors (elastic and transition); emergence of hadron mass; confinement of quarks and gluons; dynamical chiral symmetry breaking; phase transition of quantum chromodynamics; high-energy nuclear physics
2. Institute for Nonperturbative Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
Interests: hadron physics; high-energy nuclear physics; nonperturbative quantum field theory; confinement of gluons and quarks; dynamical chiral symmetry breaking; emergence of hadron mass; continuum Schwinger function methods; light-quarks; heavy quarks; Nambu–Goldstone bosons; form factors (elastic and transition); parton distribution functions
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Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Parton distribution functions (DFs) are a renowned source of hadron structure information. Moreover, experiments, interpretable in terms of hadron DFs, have been a high priority for more than fifty years. For much of this time, DFs were inferred from global fits to data and viewed as benchmarks. Such fitting remains crucial, providing input for the conduct of numerous experiments worldwide. However, the past decade has witnessed the dawn of a new era in theory, with continuum and lattice studies of quantum chromodynamics beginning to yield robust DF predictions. These developments expose conflicts with fitting results, and such disagreements encourage one of the following conclusions: global fit outcomes are misconstrued; not all considered data are a true expression of intrinsic hadron qualities; or QCD, as currently understood, is not the theory of strong interactions. This volume will provide a modern perspective on DFs—experiment, phenomenology, and theory. It will canvass an array of experiments and new ways to make advancements in phenomenology and theory, so that the emerging controversies can be swiftly resolved and a coherent description of hadron structure can be developed.
Prof. Dr. Zhu-Fang Cui
Prof. Dr. Craig Roberts
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- confinement of gluons and quarks
- dynamical chiral symmetry breaking
- emergence of mass
- Higgs mechanism of mass generation
- pion structure
- proton structure
- parton distributions
- quantum chromodynamics
- Schwinger function methods (continuum and lattice)
- strong interactions in the standard model of particle physics
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