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Using a continuum approach to the hadron bound-state problem, we calculate γ*γ → η, η' transition form factors on the entire domain of spacelike momenta, for comparison with existing experiments and in anticipation of new precision data from next-generation e⁺e^- colliders. One novel feature is a model for the contribution to the Bethe-Salpeter kernel deriving from the non-Abelian anomaly, an element which is crucial for any computation of η, η' properties. The study also delivers predictions for the amplitudes that describe the light- and strange-quark distributions within the η, η'. Our results compare favourably with available data. Important to thismore » at large-Q² is a sound understanding of QCD evolution, which has a visible impact on the η' in particular. In conclusion, our analysis also provides some insights into the properties of η, η' mesons and associated observable manifestations of the non-Abelian anomaly.« less

Here, the γγ* → η_c,b transition form factors are computed using a continuum approach to the two valence-body bound-state problem in relativistic quantum field theory, and thereby unified with equivalent calculations of electromagnetic pion elastic and transition form factors. The resulting γγ* → η_c form factor, G_ηc(Q²), is consistent with available data; significantly, at accessible momentum transfers, Q²G_ηc(Q²) lies well below its conformal limit. These observations confirm that the leading-twist parton distribution amplitudes of heavy-heavy bound states are compressed relative to the conformal limit. A clear understanding of the distribution of valence quarks within mesons thus emerges, a picture whichmore » connects Goldstone modes, built from the lightest quarks in nature, with systems containing the heaviest valence quarks that can now be studied experimentally, and highlights basic facts about manifestations of mass within the Standard Model.« less

Understanding the origin and dynamics of hadron structure and in turn that of atomic nuclei is a central goal of nuclear physics. Here, this challenge entails the questions of how does the roughly 1 GeV mass-scale that characterizes atomic nuclei appear; why does it have the observed value; and, enigmatically, why are the composite Nambu-Goldstone (NG) bosons in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) abnormally light in comparison? In this perspective, we provide an analysis of the mass budget of the pion and proton in QCD; discuss the special role of the kaon, which lies near the boundary between dominance of strong andmore » Higgs mass-generation mechanisms; and explain the need for a coherent effort in QCD phenomenology and continuum calculations, in exa-scale computing as provided by lattice QCD, and in experiments to make progress in understanding the origins of hadron masses and the distribution of that mass within them. We compare the unique capabilities foreseen at the electron-ion collider (EIC) with those at the hadron-electron ring accelerator (HERA), the only previous electron-proton collider; and describe five key experimental measurements, enabled by the EIC and aimed at delivering fundamental insights that will generate concrete answers to the questions of how mass and structure arise in the pion and kaon, the Standard Model's NG modes, whose surprisingly low mass is critical to the evolution of our Universe.« less