Target Mass Corrections in Diffractive Scattering

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the impact of target mass corrections on twist-2 contributions in inclusive unpolarized and polarized deep-inelastic diffractive scattering, providing a comprehensive operator approach without relying on the pomeron model.

Contribution

It introduces a novel operator-based framework for including target mass effects in diffractive scattering, applicable at finite momentum transfer and mass.

Findings

Target mass effects modify the scattering at large $eta$ and low $Q^2$.

The approach does not depend on the pomeron picture.

Finite $t$ and $M$ lead to specific corrections in the scattering analysis.

Abstract

We describe the twist-2 contributions to inclusive unpolarized and polarized deep-inelastic diffractive scattering in an operator approach. The representation refers to the observed large rapidity gap but does not require reference to a pomeron picture. We discuss both the case of vanishing target mass $M$ and momentum transfer $t$ as well as the effects at finite $t$ and $M$, which lead to modifications at large $\beta$ and low values of $Q^2$.