A Better Angle on Hadron Transverse Momentum Distributions at the EIC

TL;DR

The paper introduces a lab-frame angle-based observable $q_*$ for more precise measurement of transverse momentum distributions in electron-nucleon collisions, improving experimental resolution at the EIC.

Contribution

It proposes a new observable $q_*$ that simplifies transverse momentum measurements and proves its factorization properties, enhancing experimental accuracy.

Findings

$q_*$ accurately substitutes for $P_{hT}$ in measurements.

Double-angle reconstruction method is exact to all orders in QCD.

$q_*$ improves experimental resolution at the EIC by an order of magnitude.

Abstract

We propose an observable $q_*$ sensitive to transverse momentum dependence (TMD) in $e N \to e h X$, with $q_*/E_N$ defined purely by lab-frame angles. In 3D measurements of confinement and hadronization this resolves the crippling issue of accurately reconstructing small transverse momentum $P_{hT}$. We prove factorization for $\mathrm{d} \sigma_h / \mathrm{d}q_*$ for $q_*\ll Q$ with standard TMD functions, enabling $q_*$ to substitute for $P_{hT}$. A double-angle reconstruction method is given which is exact to all orders in QCD for $q_*\ll Q$. $q_*$ enables an order-of-magnitude improvement in the expected experimental resolution at the EIC.