Extraction of Pion Unpolarized Quark Generalized Parton Distribution from Charge Form Factors

Authors: S. Puhan, S. Sharma, N. Kumar, H. Dahiya
Published in: e-Print: 2604.11116 [hep-ph]

arXiv:2604.11116 · INSPIRE-HEP record

Abstract

Based on a global fit to experimental measurements of the pion electromagnetic form factor and parton distribution functions (PDFs), we report a data-driven determination of the unpolarized quark generalized parton distributions (GPDs) for the case of pion in the zero-skewness limit (ξ= 0). The form factor is parameterized using a flexible functional form constrained by data and embedded into a GPD framework constructed from collinear PDFs and a profile function encoding transverse dynamics. This approach provides a unified description of the pion's electromagnetic structure and its spatial parton distributions. We present the extracted pion GPDs and their impact-parameter-space interpretations, offering new insights into the internal structure of the lightest QCD bound state and providing essential input for future electron-ion collider studies via the Sullivan process, as well as for the exclusive π^+ electroproduction at the 12~GeV Jefferson Lab program, pion-induced exclusive measurements at COMPASS, proposed pion-beam experiments at AMBER, and phenomenological and lattice investigations of the structure of the meson