Generalized Wandzura Wilczek Relations and Orbital Angular Momentum

TL;DR

This paper derives new Lorentz Invariance and Wandzura Wilczek relations linking twist-three GPDs and twist-two GTMDs, providing insights into the nucleon’s orbital angular momentum and spin structure.

Contribution

It introduces novel Wandzura Wilczek relations in the off-forward sector that clarify the QCD structure of orbital angular momentum in the nucleon.

Findings

New Wandzura Wilczek relations linking GPDs and GTMDs.

A physical interpretation of orbital angular momentum in terms of these relations.

Relations connecting the Sivers function and Qiu-Sterman term.

Abstract

New Lorentz Invariance Relations (LIRs) were presented between twist-three Generalized Parton Distributions (GPDs) and transverse momentum, $k_T$, moments of twist-two Generalized Transverse Momentum-Dependent Distributions (GTMDs). By implementing both these LIRs and the QCD Equations of Motion in the quark quark correlation function, we generated a new series of Wandzura Wilczek (WW) relations in the off-forward sector. Two of these WW relations take on a particularly interesting physical meaning in that they provide a clear interpretation of the QCD structure of Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM) in the nucleon. In particular, they provide a solution to the outstanding puzzle of how OAM could be simultaneously described by twist-two GTMDs and twist-three GPDs. Additional relations were discussed, in particular, for the helicity configurations that can be detected analyzing specific spin asymmetries: one corresponding to a longitudinally polarized quark in an unpolarized proton, associated with spin-orbit correlations, and one for transverse proton polarization, as a generalization of the relation obeyed by the $g_2$ structure function; finally, we defined a relation connecting the off-forward extension of the Sivers function to an off-forward Qiu-Sterman term.