QCD analysis of pion fragmentation functions in the xFitter framework

TL;DR

This paper introduces the first open-source QCD analysis of charged pion fragmentation functions at NLO and NNLO accuracy using the xFitter framework, incorporating recent experimental data.

Contribution

It provides a novel open-source analysis of pion fragmentation functions at higher-order QCD accuracy with comprehensive data inclusion.

Findings

NLO and NNLO pion FFs determined with theoretical uncertainties

Comparison with recent literature fits shows consistency and improvements

Provides valuable FFs for high-energy pion process analysis

Abstract

We present the first open-source analysis of fragmentation functions (FFs) of charged pions (entitled IPM-xFitter) computed at next-to-leading order (NLO) and next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) accuracy in perturbative QCD using the xFitter framework. This study incorporates a comprehensive and up-to-date set of pion production data from single-inclusive annihilation (SIA) processes, as well as the most recent measurements of inclusive cross-sections of single pion by the BELLE collaboration. The determination of pion FFs along with their theoretical uncertainties is performed in the Zero-Mass Variable-Flavor Number Scheme (ZM-VFNS). We also present comparisons of our FFs set with recent fits from the literature. The resulting NLO and NNLO pion FFs provide valuable insights for applications in present and future high-energy analysis of pion final state processes.