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SU(2) Flavor Asymmetry of the Proton Sea in Chiral Effective Theory

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Abstract

We refine the computation of the d̄ − ū flavor asymmetry in the proton sea with a complementary effort to reveal the dynamics of pion exchange in high-energy processes. In particular, we discuss the efficacy of pion exchange models to simultaneously describe leading neutron electroproduction at HERA along with the d̄ − ū flavor asymmetry in the proton. A detailed \({\chi^{2}}\) analysis of the ZEUS and H1 data, when combined with constraints on the pion flux from Drell-Yan data, allows regions of applicability of one-pion exchange to be delineated. Based on the fit results, we also address a possible estimate for leading proton structure functions in upcoming tagged deep-inelastic scattering experiments at Jefferson Lab on the deuteron with forward protons.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA

    J. R. McKenney

  2. Jefferson Lab, Newport News, Virginia, 23606, USA

    Nobuo Sato & W. Melnitchouk

  3. North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA

    Chueng-Ryong Ji

Authors
  1. J. R. McKenney
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  2. Nobuo Sato
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  3. W. Melnitchouk
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  4. Chueng-Ryong Ji
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Correspondence to Chueng-Ryong Ji.

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McKenney, J.R., Sato, N., Melnitchouk, W. et al. SU(2) Flavor Asymmetry of the Proton Sea in Chiral Effective Theory. Few-Body Syst 57, 593–599 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00601-016-1047-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00601-016-1047-7

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