We propose a novel method for extracting non-singlet (NS) fragmentation functions (FFs) of light charged hadrons from charge asymmetries measured in hadron fragmentation, using data from both single-inclusive electron-positron annihilation and semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering processes. We determine the NS FFs for pions and kaons at next-to-next-to-leading order in Quantum Chromodynamics, including a comprehensive uncertainty analysis. The extracted FFs reveal a scaling index of about 0.7 at large momentum fractions and low energy scales, a strangeness suppression factor of about 0.5, and universality in fragmentation of light mesons. Our findings provide a valuable benchmark for testing non-perturbative QCD models and Monte Carlo event generators, and serve as crucial input for future electron-ion colliders.
@article{arxiv.2507.14637,
title = {Determination of Fragmentation Functions from Charge Asymmetries in Hadron Production},
author = {Jun Gao and ChongYang Liu and Bin Zhou},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2507.14637},
year = {2026}
}