Pion transverse charge density from timelike form factor data

Journal Article · Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2011 · Physical Review. D, Particles Fields

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVD.83.013006· OSTI ID:21503859

Miller, G A ^[1]; Strikman, M ^[2]; Weiss, C ^[3]

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1. Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195-1560 (United States)
2. Department of Physics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802 (United States)
3. Theory Center, Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia 23606 (United States)

The transverse charge density in the pion can be represented as a dispersion integral of the imaginary part of the pion form factor in the timelike region. This formulation incorporates information from e{sup +}e{sup -} annihilation experiments and allows one to reconstruct the transverse density much more accurately than from the spacelike pion form factor data alone. We calculate the transverse density using an empirical parametrization of the timelike pion form factor and estimate that it is determined to an accuracy of {approx}10% at a distance b{approx}0.1 fm, and significantly better at larger distances. The density is found to be close to that obtained from a zero-width {rho} meson pole over a wide range and shows a pronounced rise at small distances. The resulting two-dimensional image of the fast-moving pion can be interpreted in terms of its partonic structure in QCD. We argue that the singular behavior of the charge density at the center requires a substantial presence of pointlike configurations in the pion's partonic wave function, which can be probed in other high-momentum transfer processes.

• OSTI ID: 21503859
• Journal Information: Physical Review. D, Particles Fields, Vol. 83, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.83.013006; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0556-2821
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
ACCURACY
ANNIHILATION
CHARGE DENSITY
CONFIGURATION
DENSITY
DISPERSIONS
ELECTRON-POSITRON INTERACTIONS
FORM FACTORS
MOMENTUM TRANSFER
PIONS
QUANTUM CHROMODYNAMICS
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
WAVE FUNCTIONS
BOSONS
DIMENSIONLESS NUMBERS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
FIELD THEORIES
FUNCTIONS
HADRONS
INTERACTIONS
LEPTON-LEPTON INTERACTIONS
MESONS
PARTICLE INTERACTIONS
PARTICLE PROPERTIES
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PSEUDOSCALAR MESONS
QUANTUM FIELD THEORY