PDFs from nucleons to nuclei

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advances in extracting unpolarized parton distributions in protons and nuclei, emphasizing the synergy between high energy particle physics and nuclear physics in understanding fundamental structures and interactions.

Contribution

It provides a unified perspective on how high energy and nuclear physics inform each other in studying parton distributions and nuclear structure.

Findings

Enhanced understanding of parton distributions in nucleons and nuclei.

Insights into non-perturbative nucleon structure and nuclear emergence.

Implications for physics beyond the standard model at the LHC.

Abstract

I review recent progress in the extraction of unpolarized parton distributions in the proton and in nuclei from a unified point of view that highlights how the interplay between high energy particle physics and lower energy nuclear physics can be of mutual benefit to either field. Areas of overlap range from the search for physics beyond the standard model at the LHC, to the study of the non perturbative structure of nucleons and the emergence of nuclei from quark and gluon degrees of freedom, to the interaction of colored probes in a cold nuclear medium.