# Pion and kaon parton distribution functions from basis light front quantization and QCD evolution

## TL;DR

This paper combines basis light front quantization and QCD evolution to compute pion and kaon PDFs, achieving results consistent with multiple experimental data sets and providing insights into meson structure.

## Contribution

It introduces a novel approach integrating light front wave functions with QCD evolution to calculate meson PDFs, aligning well with experimental measurements.

## Key findings

- Pion valence-quark PDF matches Fermilab experiment after QCD evolution.
- Pion structure function agrees with DESY-HERA data at large x.
- Kaon to pion up-quark PDF ratio aligns with CERN experiment.

## Abstract

We investigate the parton distribution functions (PDFs) of the pion and the kaon by combining quantum chromodynamics (QCD) evolution with the basis light front quantization. The initial PDFs result from the light front wave functions obtained by diagonalizing the effective Hamiltonian consisting of the holographic QCD confinement potential, a complementary longitudinal confinement potential, and the color-singlet Nambu--Jona-Lasinio interactions. The valence-quark PDF of the pion, after QCD evolution, is consistent with the result from the E-0615 experiment at Fermilab. Meanwhile, the pion structure function calculated from the PDFs agrees with the ZEUS and the H1 experiments at DESY-HERA for large $x$. Additionally, the ratio of the up quark PDF of the kaon to that of the pion is in agreement with the NA-003 experiment at CERN. We also present the cross section for the pion-nucleus induced Drell-Yan process with the obtained pion PDFs supplemented by the PDFs of the target nuclei.