Counting linearly polarized gluons with lattice QCD

TL;DR

This paper proposes a lattice QCD method using large momentum effective theory to calculate the distribution of linearly polarized gluons inside unpolarized hadrons, enabling practical exploration of gluon polarization effects.

Contribution

It introduces a novel lattice QCD approach to compute the transverse-momentum-dependent distribution of linearly polarized gluons without soft function subtraction.

Findings

Proposes a Euclidean version of the polarization degree for lattice calculations

Demonstrates the method's ultraviolet finiteness

Provides a practical framework for studying gluon polarization in hadrons

Abstract

We outline an approach to calculate the transverse-momentum-dependent distribution of linearly polarized gluons inside an unpolarized hadron on the lattice with the help of large momentum effective theory. To achieve this purpose, we propose calculating a Euclidean version of the degree of polarization for a fast-moving hadron on the lattice, which is ultraviolet finite, and no soft function subtraction is needed. It indicates a practical way to explore the distribution of the linearly polarized gluons in a proton and the linearly polarized gluon effects in hadron collisions on the lattice.