The small $x$ nuclear shadowing at DIS

TL;DR

This paper estimates perturbative nuclear shadowing effects in the structure function $F_2^A$ at small $x$ using the Glauber-Mueller approach, highlighting the significance of gluon sector saturation at HERA energies.

Contribution

It provides a detailed estimation of nuclear shadowing contributions from quark and gluon sectors, emphasizing the importance of gluon saturation effects.

Findings

Nuclear shadowing corrections are significant.

Gluon sector saturation occurs at small $x$.

Ratio $R_1$ saturates when gluon shadowing is included.

Abstract

We estimate the perturbative nuclear shadowing in the nuclear structure function $F_2^A(x,Q^2)$, mainly at the kinematic region of HERA using the Glauber-Mueller approach. The contributions of the quark and gluon sectors to the nuclear shadowing are estimated. We predict that the nuclear shadowing corrections are important and that saturation of the ratio $R_1 = F_2^{A}(x,Q^2)/A F^p_2(x,Q^2)$ occurs once the shadowing in the gluon sector is considered.