Nuclear PDFs After the First Decade of LHC Data

TL;DR

This review summarizes a decade of progress in understanding nuclear parton distribution functions (PDFs) through experimental data, highlighting key measurements from the LHC and prospects for future insights from the Electron Ion Collider.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the theoretical foundations, methodological approaches, and recent experimental constraints shaping the field of nuclear PDFs, emphasizing LHC results and future directions.

Findings

LHC proton-lead data have significantly advanced nuclear PDF analysis.

Measurements of electroweak bosons, jets, and heavy flavors constrain nuclear PDFs.

Future Electron Ion Collider will further refine nuclear parton distributions.

Abstract

We present a review of the conceptual basis, present knowledge and recent progress in the field of global analysis of nuclear parton distribution functions (PDFs). After introducing the theoretical foundations and methodological approaches for the extraction of nuclear PDFs from experimental data, we discuss how different measurements in fixed-target and collider experiments provide increasingly precise constraints on various aspects of nuclear PDFs, including shadowing, antishadowing, the EMC effect, Fermi motion, flavor separation, deuteron binding, target-mass and other higher-twist effects. Particular emphasis is given to measurements carried out in proton-lead collisions at the Large Hadron Collider, which have revolutionized the global analysis during the past decade. These measurements include electroweak-boson, jet, light-hadron, and heavy-flavor observables. Finally, we outline the expected impact of the future Electron Ion Collider and discuss the role and interplay of nuclear PDFs with other branches of nuclear, particle and astroparticle physics.