Does nuclear medium affect the transverse momentum-dependent parton distributions of valence quark of pions?

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the nuclear medium influences the transverse momentum-dependent parton distributions of valence quarks in pions using a light-cone quark model and chiral SU(3) quark mean field theory.

Contribution

It introduces a novel calculation of pion TMDs in nuclear matter considering medium modifications via effective quark masses.

Findings

Medium modifies pion unpolarized TMDs.

Spin densities vary with momentum fraction and baryonic density.

Provides insights into nuclear effects on meson structure.

Abstract

We calculate the valence quark transverse momentum-dependent parton distributions (TMDs) of the lightest pseudoscalar meson, pions, in isospin asymmetric nuclear matter at zero temperature by employing a light-cone quark model. The medium modifications in the pion unpolarized TMDs are induced through the effective quark masses computed using the chiral SU($3$) quark mean field model. The spin densities at different momentum fraction ($x$) have also been calculated at different baryonic densities.