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The Quark Orbital Angular Momentum in a Light-Cone Representation

High Energy Physics - Phenomenology 2009-10-31 v1 High Energy Physics - Experiment Nuclear Theory

Abstract

We perform an analysis of the quark angular momentum in a light-cone representation by taking into account the effect due to the Melosh-Wigner rotation and find that there is a relativistic correction factor connecting the quark orbital angular momentum with the quark model spin distribution: Lq(x)=<ML(x)>ΔqQM(x)L_q(x)={<M_L(x)>}\Delta q_{QM}(x). The quark orbital angular momentum Lq(x)L_q(x) and the quark helicity distribution Δq(x)\Delta q(x) are connected to the quark model spin distribution ΔqQM(x)\Delta q_{QM}(x) by a relation: 12Δq(x)+Lq(x)=12ΔqQM(x)\frac{1}{2}\Delta q(x)+ L_q(x)=\frac{1}{2}\Delta q_{QM}(x), which means that one can decompose the quark model spin contribution ΔqQM(x)\Delta q_{QM}(x) by a quark helicity term Δq(x)\Delta q(x) {\it plus} an orbital angular momentum term Lq(x)L_q(x). There is also a new relation connecting the quark orbital angular momentum with the measurable quark helicity distribution and transversity distribution (δq(x)\delta q(x)): Δq(x)+Lq(x)=δq(x)\Delta q(x)+L_q(x)=\delta q(x), from which we may have new sum rules connecting the quark orbital angular momentum with the nucleon axial and tensor charges.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.hep-ph/9808202,
  title  = {The Quark Orbital Angular Momentum in a Light-Cone Representation},
  author = {Bo-Qiang Ma and Ivan Schmidt},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:hep-ph/9808202},
  year   = {2009}
}

Comments

20 latex pages, including an eps figure, to appear in Phys. Rev. D

R2 v1 2026-07-22T14:45:27.142Z