Recent progress in Nuclear Parton Distributions

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advances in nuclear parton distribution functions (nPDFs), highlighting differences from free protons and discussing how future experiments can improve our understanding of nuclear partons.

Contribution

It provides an overview of the latest results in nPDFs and emphasizes the potential of upcoming experiments to enhance knowledge of nuclear parton behavior.

Findings

Differences observed between nuclear and free proton DIS data.

Recent nPDFs show non-trivial modifications in nuclear environments.

Future experiments are expected to refine nPDF measurements.

Abstract

The determination of the parton distribution functions (PDFs) is crucial for a complete understanding of the protons and neutrons that make most of the visible matter in the universe. Years of dedicated studies have yielded a quite precise knowledge of the behavior of partons moving collinearly within a proton. However Deep Inelastic Scattering (DIS) experiments off nuclei have shown a non-trivial difference with respect to DIS in protons, hinting that the partons in a nuclear medium do not behave the same way as in a free proton. In this work we will discuss the latest results in nuclear parton distribution functions (nPDFs) and how data from planned future experiments can help broaden our understanding of the nPDFs.