We outline a general framework for evaluating the non-perturbative soft functions in the QCD instanton vacuum. In particular, from the soft function we derive the Collins-Soper (CS) kernel, which drives the rapidity evolution of the transverse-momentum-dependent parton distributions. The resulting CS kernel, when supplemented with the perturbative contribution, agrees well with recent lattice results and some phenomenological parameterizations. Moreover, our CS kernel depends logarithmically on the large quark transverse separation, providing a key constraint on its phenomenological parametrization. Finally, a lattice calculation can be directly compared to our generic results in Euclidean signature, thus providing a new approach for evaluating the soft function and extracting the CS kernel by analytical continuation.
@article{arxiv.2501.00678,
title = {Collins-Soper Kernel in the QCD Instanton Vacuum},
author = {Wei-Yang Liu and Ismail Zahed and Yong Zhao},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2501.00678},
year = {2025}
}