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# Quark-Hadron Duality in Electron-Pion Scattering

## I Introduction

The nature of the transition between quark and hadron degrees of freedom in QCD is one of the most fundamental problems in strong interaction physics. This transition has been extensively explored within nonperturbative models of QCD, which, while retaining some of the apposite features of QCD, make simplifying assumptions that allow approximate solutions to be found MODELS . Considerable progress has also been made recently in calculating hadronic properties directly from QCD via lattice gauge theory, and much is anticipated from this approach in the near future with significant advances in computing power available LATT . It is clear, however, that while a quantitative description of hadronic structure from first principles in QCD is still some time away, phenomenological input will remain crucial in guiding our understanding for the foreseeable future.

Of course, assuming QCD can ultimately describe the physics of hadrons, the transition from quarks and gluons to hadrons can be considered trivial in principle from the point of view of quark–hadron duality. So long as one has access to a complete set of states, it is immaterial whether one calculates physical quantities in terms of elementary quark or effective hadron degrees of freedom. In practice, however, truncations are unavoidable, and it is precisely the consequences of working with incomplete or truncated basis states that allows one to expose the interesting dynamics that drives the quark–hadron transition.

The duality between quarks and hadrons reveals itself in spectacular fashion through the phenomenon of Bloom-Gilman duality in inclusive lepton–nucleon scattering, $`eNeX`$. Here the inclusive $`F_2`$ structure function of the nucleon measured in the region dominated by low-lying nucleon resonances is observed to follow a global scaling curve describing the high energy data, to which the resonance structure function averages BG ; NICU . The equivalence of the averaged resonance and scaling structure functions in addition appears to hold for each prominent resonance region separately, suggesting that the resonance–scaling duality also exists to some extent locally.

The correspondence between exclusive and inclusive observables in electroproduction was studied even before the advent of QCD DY ; WEST ; BJORKEN ; GBB ; LANDSHOFF ; EZAWA . Within QCD, the appearance of duality for the moments of structure functions can be related through the operator product expansion (OPE) to the size of high twist corrections to the scaling structure function RUJ , which reflect the importance of long-range multi-parton correlations in the hadron MANKIEWICZ . The apparent early onset of Bloom-Gilman duality for the proton structure function seen in recent Jefferson Lab experiments NICU  indicates the dominance of single-quark scattering to rather low momentum transfer CM . It is not a priori clear, however, whether this is due to an overall suppression of coherent effects in inclusive scattering, or because of fortuitous cancellations of possibly large corrections. Indeed, there are some indications from models of QCD that the workings of duality may be rather different in the neutron than in the proton IJMV ; CI , or for spin-independent and spin-dependent structure functions.

From another direction, one knows from the large $`N_c`$ limit of QCD LARGENC  that duality is an inevitable consequence of quark confinement; in the mesonic sector one can prove (at least in 1+1 dimensions) that an exactly scaling structure function can be constructed from towers of infinitesimally narrow mesonic $`q\overline{q}`$ resonances EINHORN . This proof-of-principle example provides a heuristic guide to the appearance of the qualitative features of Bloom-Gilman duality, and has been used to motivate more elaborate studies of duality in quark models, even though application to the baryon sector is somewhat more involved NCBARYON . Given that Bloom-Gilman duality is empirically established only for baryons (specifically, the proton), while the application of theoretical models is generally more straightforward in the meson sector, a natural question to consider is whether, and how, duality manifests itself phenomenologically for the simplest $`q\overline{q}`$ system in QCD — the pion.

As the lightest $`q\overline{q}`$ bound state, the pion plays a special role in QCD. Indeed, in Nature the pion presents itself as somewhat of a dichotomy: on the one hand, its anomalously small mass suggests that it should be identified with the pseudo-Goldstone mode of dynamical breaking of chiral symmetry in QCD; on the other, it ought to be described equally well from the QCD Lagrangian in terms of current quarks, with particularly attractive forces acting in the $`J^P=0^{}`$ channel. The complementarity of these pictures may also reflect, loosely-speaking, a kind of duality between the effective, hadronic description based on symmetries, and a microscopic description in terms of partons. This duality is effectively exploited in calculations of hadron properties via the QCD sum rule method QCDSR , in which results obtained in terms of hadronic variables using dispersion relations are matched with those of the OPE using free quarks.

In this paper we connect a number of these themes in an attempt to further develop and elucidate the issue of quark-hadron duality for the pion, focusing in particular on insights that can be gained from phenomenological constraints. Specifically, we shall examine the possible connections between the structure of the pion as revealed in exclusive scattering, and that which is measured in inclusive reactions. The latter can in principle be reconstructed given sufficient knowledge of the form factors which parameterize transitions from the ground state pion to excited states. We do not attempt this rather challenging task directly; instead, we use the tools of the OPE to organize moments of the pion structure function according to (matrix elements of) local operators of a given twist. This exercise is possible because the structure function of the pion has been determined from Drell-Yan $`\pi N`$ scattering data at high $`Q^2`$. Of course, the absence of fixed pion targets means that the structure of the pion at low excitation mass $`W`$ is not known, with the exception of the elastic pion contribution, which has been accurately measured for $`Q^22`$ GeV2 in $`\pi ^+`$ electroproduction off the proton.

To complement the dearth of data on specific $`\pi \pi ^{}`$ transitions above threshold (but below the deep inelastic continuum), we consider a simple model for the pion structure function in which the low $`W`$ spectrum is dominated by the elastic and $`\pi \rho `$ transitions, on top of a continuum which is estimated by evolving the leading twist structure function to lower $`Q^2`$. The discussion at low $`W`$ is necessarily more qualitative than for the corresponding case of the nucleon JF2  where ample data exist. However, even within the current limitations, this analysis provides an estimate of the possible size of higher twist effects in the pion structure function, and the role of the resonance region in deep inelastic scattering (DIS) from the pion. Preliminary results for the higher twist corrections have been presented in Ref. PILET . Here we shall extend that analysis by considering the extent to which local duality may be valid in the pion structure function, and possible constraints on the $`x1`$ behavior which can be inferred from the elastic channels.

This study is timely in view of experiments on the pion elastic MACK ; WHITE  and transition KOSSOV ; BURKERT  form factors being planned or analyzed at Jefferson Lab, which will probe the interplay between soft and hard scattering from the pion and the onset of perturbative QCD (pQCD) behavior. Furthermore, recent measurements of the inclusive pion structure function via the semi-inclusive charge-exchange reaction, $`epenX`$, at HERA have yielded some unexpected results at low $`x`$ HERA , and new experiments over a large range of $`x`$ are being planned at Jefferson Lab at lower $`Q^2`$ KRISHNI12 . This paper discusses the possible interelations between these measurements, in the quest for obtaining a consistent, unified description of the structure of the pion in electromagnetic scattering.

The structure of this paper is as follows. After briefly reviewing in Section II the definitions and kinematics of inclusive lepton scattering from the pion, in Section III we begin the discussion by focusing on the special case of elastic scattering. We construct an efficient parameterization of the elastic pion form factor in the space-like region consistent with the $`Q^20`$ and $`Q^2\mathrm{}`$ constraints. An analysis of moments of the pion structure function is presented in Section IV, including the extraction of higher twists and a discussion of the role of the resonance region. Some of these results appeared in Ref. PILET . In addition, we carefully examine the large $`x`$ region, which is important for high moments, and compare predictions of several models for the leading and higher twist contributions to the pion structure function as $`x1`$. The relation of the structure function at $`x1`$ with the $`Q^2\mathrm{}`$ dependence of elastic form factors is discussed in Section V, where we test the hypothesis of local Bloom-Gilman duality between the scaling structure function and the exclusive elastic and $`\pi \rho `$ transition contributions. Concluding remarks and a survey of future avenues for developments of the issues presented are outlined in Section VI.

## II Definitions

Inclusive scattering of an electron, or any charged lepton, from a pion, $`e\pi eX`$, is described by the pion hadronic tensor,

$`W_{\mu \nu }^\pi `$ $`=`$ $`(2\pi )^3\delta ^4(p+qp_X){\displaystyle \underset{X}{}}\pi |J_\mu (0)|XX|J_\nu (0)|\pi ,`$ (1)
where $`p`$ and $`q`$ and the pion and virtual photon four-momenta, respectively, and $`p_X`$ is the momentum of the hadronic final state with invariant mass squared $`W^2=m_\pi ^2q^2+2m_\pi \nu `$, with $`\nu `$ the energy transfer in the pion rest frame and $`m_\pi `$ the pion mass. The hadronic tensor can be parameterized in terms of two structure functions,

$`W_{\mu \nu }^\pi `$ $`=`$ $`\left(g_{\mu \nu }+{\displaystyle \frac{q_\mu q_\nu }{q^2}}\right)W_1^\pi (\nu ,q^2)+\left(p_\mu {\displaystyle \frac{pq}{q^2}}q_\mu \right)\left(p_\nu {\displaystyle \frac{pq}{q^2}}q_\nu \right){\displaystyle \frac{W_2^\pi (\nu ,q^2)}{m_\pi ^2}},`$ (2)
where $`W_1^\pi `$ and $`W_2^\pi `$ are in general functions of two variables, for instance $`\nu `$ and $`q^2`$. In the limit as $`\nu \mathrm{}`$ and $`Q^2q^2\mathrm{}`$, with $`x=Q^2/2pq=Q^2/(W^2m_\pi ^2+Q^2)`$ fixed, the functions $`W_1^\pi `$ and $`\nu W_2^\pi `$ become scale-invariant functions of $`x`$,

$`m_\pi W_1^\pi (\nu ,q^2)`$ $``$ $`F_1^\pi (x),`$ (3a)
$`\nu W_2^\pi (\nu ,q^2)`$ $``$ $`F_2^\pi (x).`$ (3b)
Furthermore, in this limit these functions satisfy the Callan-Gross relation, $`F_2^\pi =2xF_1^\pi `$ CG . Radiative QCD corrections introduce explicit dependence of $`F_{1,2}^\pi `$ on the strong coupling constant, $`\alpha _s(Q^2)`$. While only transversely polarized photons contribute to the $`F_1^\pi `$ structure function, $`F_1^\pi \sigma _T`$, the $`F_2^\pi `$ structure function receives both transverse and longitudinal contributions, $`F_2^\pi \sigma _T+\sigma _L`$, where $`\sigma _T`$ and $`\sigma _L`$ are the transverse and longitudinal photoabsorption cross sections, respectively.

## III Pion Form Factor

The inclusive spectrum begins with the elastic peak at $`W=m_\pi `$, or equivalently, $`x=1`$. Because the pion is spinless, elastic scattering from the pion contributes only to the longitudinal cross section, so that the elastic contribution to the $`F_1^\pi `$ structure function vanishes. The elastic contribution to the $`F_2^\pi `$ structure function is proportional to the square of the elastic pion form factor, $`F_\pi (Q^2)`$,

$`F_2^{\pi (\mathrm{el})}(x=1,Q^2)`$ $`=`$ $`2m_\pi \nu \left(F_\pi (Q^2)\right)^2\delta (W^2m_\pi ^2)`$ (4)
where $`F_\pi (Q^2)`$ is the elastic pion form factor. As the most basic observable characterizing the composite nature of the lightest bound state in QCD, the elastic form factor of the pion is of fundamental importance to our understanding of hadronic structure. In the approximation that the pion wave function is dominated by its lowest $`q\overline{q}`$ Fock state, the pion form factor becomes amenable to rigorous QCD analysis. Indeed, it is well known that the asymptotic behavior of the pion form factor is calculable in pQCD FJPI ; LB ; DM ,

$`F_\pi (Q^2)`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{8\pi \alpha _s(Q^2)f_\pi ^2}{Q^2}}\mathrm{as}Q^2\mathrm{},`$ (5)
where $`f_\pi =132`$ MeV is the pion decay constant. Current data on $`F_\pi `$, summarized in Fig. 1, indicate that there are large soft contributions still at $`Q^22`$ GeV2 NESTERENKO ; IL . The low $`Q^2`$ data are obtained from scattering pions off atomic electrons FF\_ATOMIC , while the higher $`Q^2`$ data are taken from $`{}_{}{}^{1}\mathrm{H}(e,e^{}\pi ^+)n`$ measurements at CEA/Cornell FF\_CORNELL , DESY FF\_DESY  and JLab FF\_JLAB . For comparison, the leading order pQCD prediction from Eq. (5) is shown in Fig. 1. Although the region of applicability of the pQCD result is a priori unknown, the pion represents the best hope of observing the onset of asymptotic behavior experimentally (the corresponding pQCD calculation of the nucleon form factors significantly underestimates the data at the same $`Q^2`$).

There have been a number of calculations of the elastic pion form factor at low $`Q^2`$, for instance using the QCD sum rule approach SMILGA . Rather than rely on any specific model, however, in this analysis we use empirical data to calculate the elastic contribution to the pion structure function. For convenience, and for later use in Sections IV and V, we present a simple parameterization of the pion elastic form factor data in the space-like region, which is valid over the entire range of $`Q^2`$ currently accessible, and smoothly interpolates between the pQCD and photoproduction limits. For the latter, the pion form factor at low $`Q^2`$ can be well described in the vector meson dominance hypothesis, in which $`F_\pi (Q^2)1/(1+Q^2/m_\rho ^2)`$. A best fit to the low $`Q^2`$ data using the simple monopole form is shown in Fig. 1 (dashed), with a cut-off mass $`0.74`$ GeV. The monopole fit is not compatible, however, with the behavior at high $`Q^2`$ expected from pQCD. Building in the $`Q^20`$ and $`Q^2\mathrm{}`$ constraints, Eq. (5), the available form factor data can be fitted by the form

$`F_\pi (Q^2)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{1+Q^2/m_\rho ^2}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{1+c_1Z+c_2Z^2}{1+c_3Z+c_4Z^2+c_5Z^3}}\right),`$ (6)
where $`Z=\mathrm{log}(1+Q^2/\mathrm{\Lambda }^2)`$, and $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is the QCD scale parameter. The form (6) is similar to that proposed in Ref. WIN  within a dispersion relation analysis, however, the form there uses 2 additional parameters, and takes a rather large value of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }1`$ GeV. Note that the parameterization (6) is valid only in the space-like region; for a recent discussion of the properties of $`F_\pi (Q^2)`$ in the time-like region see Ref. GESHK .

The best fit parameters $`c_{1\mathrm{}4}`$ which give the minimum $`\chi ^2`$ are given in Table I. The parameter $`c_5`$ is constrained by the pQCD asymptotic limit, $`c_5=m_\rho ^2(\beta _0/32\pi ^2f_\pi ^2)c_2`$, where $`\beta _0=112N_f/3`$ (= 9 for the 3-flavor case) DONOGHUE . For the QCD scale parameter we take $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=0.25`$ GeV. For completeness, we offer two parameterizations, which approach the pQCD limit (5) differently: in fit I the form factor becomes dominated by hard scattering at $`Q^2100`$ GeV2, consistent with semi-phenomenological expectations IL , while in fit II around half of the strength of the form factor at this scale still comes from soft contributions. These are indicated by the solid lines in Fig. 1. Better quality data are needed to constrain $`F_\pi (Q^2)`$ at higher $`Q^2`$ ($`2`$ GeV2). To this end, there are plans to measure the pion form factor at an energy-upgraded Jefferson Lab to $`Q^26`$ GeV2 WHITE .

## IV Pion Structure Function

Going from elastic pion scattering ($`W=m_\pi `$) to the more general case of inelastic scattering ($`W>m_\pi `$), in this section we analyze the pion structure function, $`F_2^\pi `$, in terms of an OPE of its moments in QCD, and obtain an estimate for the size of higher twists corrections to the scaling contribution. Following this we discuss the role of higher twists in the pion structure function at large $`x`$, and compare several models for the $`x1`$ behavior of $`F_2^\pi `$ with data from Drell-Yan experiments.

### IV.1 Moments

From the operator product expansion in QCD, moments of the pion $`F_2^\pi `$ structure function, defined as

$`M_n(Q^2)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle _0^1}𝑑xx^{n2}F_2^\pi (x,Q^2),`$ (7)
can be expanded perturbatively at large $`Q^2`$ as a power series in $`1/Q^2`$, with coefficients given by matrix elements of local operators of a given twist (defined as the mass dimension minus the spin of the operator),

$`M_n(Q^2)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{k=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}𝒜_k^n(\alpha _s(Q^2))\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{Q^2}}\right)^k.`$ (8)
Here the leading twist (twist 2) term $`𝒜_0^n`$ corresponds to free quark scattering, and modulo perturbative $`\alpha _s(Q^2)`$ corrections is responsible for the scaling of the structure functions. The higher twist contributions $`𝒜_{k>0}^n`$ represent matrix elements of operators involving both quark and gluon fields, and are suppressed by additional powers of $`1/Q^2`$. The higher twist terms reflect the strength of nonperturbative QCD effects, such as multi-parton correlations, which are associated with confinement.

Note that the definition of $`M_n(Q^2)`$ includes the elastic contribution at $`x=Q^2/(W^2m_\pi ^2+Q^2)=1`$, where $`W`$ is the mass of the hadronic final state. Although negligible at high $`Q^2`$, the elastic contribution has been found to be important numerically at intermediate $`Q^2`$ for moments of the nucleon structure function JF2 . In the definition (7) we use the Cornwall-Norton moments rather than the Nachtmann moments, which are expressed in terms of the Nachtmann scaling variable, $`\xi =2x/(1+\sqrt{1+4x^2m_\pi ^2/Q^2})`$, that includes effects of the target mass. The use of the Cornwall-Norton moments was advocated in Ref. JF2  on the grounds that it avoids the unphysical region $`\xi >\xi (x=1)`$. Because of the small value of $`m_\pi `$, the difference between the variables $`x`$ and $`\xi `$, and therefore between the $`x`$\- and $`\xi `$-moments, is negligible for the pion.

The seminal analysis of De Rújula et al. RUJ  (see also Ref. JF2 ) demonstrated that the onset of quark-hadron duality is governed directly by the size of the higher twist matrix elements. In particular, duality implies the existence of a region in the ($`n`$, $`Q^2`$) space in which the moments of the structure function are dominated by low mass resonances, and where the higher twist contributions are neither dominant nor negligible. For the case of the proton $`F_2`$ structure function, even though there are large contributions from the resonance region, conventionally defined as $`W2`$ GeV, to the $`n=2`$ moment ($`70\%`$ at $`Q^2=1`$ GeV2), the higher twists contribute only around 10-20% to the cross section at the same $`Q^2`$ JF2 . The question we wish to address here is whether there exists an analogous region for the pion, where the resonance contributions are important, but higher twist effects are small enough for duality to be observed.

Of course, the distinction between the resonance region and the deep inelastic continuum is in practice somewhat arbitrary. In the large $`N_c`$ limit of QCD, for instance, the final state in DIS from the pion is populated by infinitely narrow resonances even in the Bjorken limit, while the structure function calculated at the quark level produces a smooth, scaling function IJMV . Empirically, the spectrum of the excited states of the pion is expected to be rather smooth sufficiently above the $`\rho `$ mass, for $`W1`$ GeV. Resonance excitation of heavier mesons are not expected to be easily discernible from the DIS continuum — the $`a_1`$ meson, for instance, at a mass $`W1.3`$ GeV, has a rather broad width ($`350500`$ MeV) PDG .

Moments of the pion structure function can also be calculated directly via lattice QCD, and first simulations of the leading as well as some specific higher twist contributions have been performed LATPI . Although the detailed $`x`$ dependence, especially at large $`x`$ (see next section) requires knowledge of high moments XDEP , considerable information on the shape of the valence distribution can already be extracted from just the lowest 3 or 4 moments XPI . Calculations of a further 2 or 3 moments may be sufficient to allow both the valence and sea distributions to be extracted as a function of $`x`$.

Measurements of the pion structure function have been made using the Drell-Yan process BNLDY ; FNALDY ; NA3 ; NA10 ; E615  in $`\pi N`$ scattering, covering a large range of $`x`$, $`0.2x1`$, and for $`Q^2`$ typically $`20`$ GeV2. It has also been extracted from the semi-inclusive DIS data at HERA for very low $`x`$ and high $`W`$ HERA  (see also Ref. PIONPOLE ). However, there are no data on $`F_2^\pi `$ at low $`W`$, in the region where mesonic resonances would dominate the cross section. The spectrum could in principle be reconstructed by observing low $`t`$ neutrons produced in the semi-inclusive charge-exchange reaction, $`epenX`$, where $`t`$ is the momentum transfer squared between the proton and neutron, and extrapolating to the pion pole to ensure $`\pi `$ exchange dominance. In the meantime, to obtain a quantitative estimate of the importance of the resonance region, we model the pion spectrum at low $`W`$ in terms of the elastic and $`\rho `$ pole contributions, on top of the DIS continuum evolved down from the higher $`Q^2`$ region, as outlined in Ref. PILET . The leading twist structure function can be reconstructed from parameterizations GRVPI ; SMRSPI ; GRSPI  of quark distributions in the pion obtained from global analyses of the pion Drell-Yan data. Unless otherwise stated, in this work we use the low $`Q^2`$ fit from Ref. GRVPI , which gives the leading twist parton distributions in the pion for $`Q^2>0.25`$ GeV2 (our conclusions are not sensitive to the use of other parameterizations SMRSPI ; GRSPI ). For the elastic contribution we use the parameterization in Eq. (6) \[fit I\].

The contribution of the $`\rho `$ meson is described by the $`\pi \rho `$ transition form factor, $`F_{\pi \rho }(Q^2)`$, which is normalized such that $`F_{\pi \rho }(0)=1`$, and is expected to fall as $`1/Q^4`$ at large $`Q^2`$ (compared with $`1/Q^2`$ for $`F_\pi (Q^2)`$). Since there is no empirical information on $`F_{\pi \rho }(Q^2)`$, we consider several models in the literature, based on a relativistic Bethe-Salpeter vertex function ITOGROSS , a covariant Dyson-Schwinger approach MARIS , and light-cone QCD sum rules KHODJ . These represent a sizable range ($`100\%`$) in the magnitude of $`F_{\pi \rho }(Q^2)`$ over the region of $`Q^2`$ covered in this analysis, with the calculation of Ref. KHODJ  giving a somewhat smaller result than those in Refs. ITOGROSS ; MARIS . The spread in these predictions can be viewed as an indicator of the uncertainty in this contribution. The $`\pi \rho `$ transition form factor can be extracted, for instance, from $`\rho `$ electroproduction data off the proton, $`epep\rho ^0`$ KOSSOV ; BURKERT , by reconstructing the decay of the $`\rho ^0`$ into two pions. It also forms an important input into the calculation of meson-exchange current contributions to deuteron form factors at large $`Q^2`$ DEUTFF .

The contributions from the “resonance region”, $`W<W_{\mathrm{res}}1`$ GeV, to the moments of the pion structure function,

$`M_n^{\mathrm{res}}(Q^2)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle _{x_{\mathrm{res}}}^1}𝑑xx^{n2}F_2^\pi (x,Q^2),`$ (9)
are plotted in Fig. 2 as a ratio to the total moment, for $`n=2,\mathrm{},10`$. The integration in $`M_n^{\mathrm{res}}(Q^2)`$ is from $`x_{\mathrm{res}}=Q^2/(W_{\mathrm{res}}^2m_\pi ^2+Q^2)`$ to the elastic point, $`x=1`$. The low $`W`$ region contributes as much as 50% at $`Q^2=2`$ GeV2 to the total $`n=2`$ moment, decreasing to $`1\%`$ for $`Q^210`$ GeV2 PILET . Higher moments are more sensitive to the large $`x`$ region, and subsequently receive larger contributions from low $`W`$. The $`n=10`$ moment, for example, is almost completely saturated by the resonance region at $`Q^2=2`$ GeV2, and even at $`Q^2=10`$ GeV2 still receives some 40% of its strength from $`W<1`$ GeV even at $`Q^2=10`$ GeV2.

The relatively large magnitude of the resonance contributions suggests that higher twist effects play a more important role in the moments of the pion structure function than for the case of the nucleon. In Fig. 3 the lowest ($`n=2`$) moment of $`F_2^\pi `$ is displayed, together with its various contributions. The leading twist component,

$`M_n^{\mathrm{LT}}(Q^2)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle _0^1}𝑑xx^{n2}F_{2,\mathrm{LT}}^\pi (x,Q^2),`$ (10)
is expressed (at leading order in $`\alpha _s(Q^2)`$) in terms of the twist-2 quark distributions in the pion,

$`F_{2,\mathrm{LT}}^\pi (x,Q^2)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{q}{}}e_q^2xq^\pi (x,Q^2),`$ (11)
where the valence part of $`q^\pi `$ is normalized such that $`𝑑xq_{\mathrm{val}}^\pi (x,Q^2)=1`$. The leading twist contribution is dominant at $`Q^2>5`$ GeV2, while the deviation of the total moment from the leading twist at lower $`Q^2`$ indicates the increasingly important role played by higher twists there. While negligible beyond $`Q^24`$ GeV2, the elastic contribution is as large as the leading twist already at $`Q^21`$ GeV2. The $`\pi \rho `$ contribution is more uncertain, and the band in Fig. 3 represents the total moment calculated using different models ITOGROSS ; MARIS ; KHODJ  of $`F_{\pi \rho }(Q^2)`$. However, while the current uncertainty in this contribution is conservatively taken to be $`100\%`$, doubling this would lead to a modest increase of the band in Fig. 3. Uncertainty from poor knowledge of the leading twist distributions at small $`x`$ GRVPI ; SMRSPI ; GRSPI  is not expected to be large.

To extract the higher twist part of the moments, one needs to subtract the leading twist contribution in Eq. (10) from the total moments $`M_n(Q^2)`$,

$`M_n^{\mathrm{HT}}(Q^2)`$ $`=`$ $`M_n(Q^2)M_n^{\mathrm{LT}}(Q^2)M_n^{\mathrm{TM}}(Q^2),`$ (12)
where $`M_n^{\mathrm{TM}}(Q^2)`$ arises from target mass corrections. Because the target mass correction, which is formally of leading twist, is proportional to $`m_\pi ^2/Q^2`$, its contribution will only be felt when $`Q^2m_\pi ^2`$, which is far from the region where the twist expansion is expected to be valid. In principle nonperturbative effects can mix higher twist with higher order effects in $`\alpha _s`$, rendering the formal separation of the two problematic MUELLERHT ; RENORMALON ; NNNLO ; ALEKHIN . Indeed, the perturbative expansion itself may not even be convergent. However, by restricting the kinematics to the region of $`Q^2`$ in which the $`1/Q^2`$ term is significantly larger than the next order correction in $`\alpha _s`$, the ambiguity in defining the higher twist terms can be neglected JF2 . In Fig. 4 the higher twist contribution to the $`n=2`$ moment is displayed as a function of $`Q^2`$. The band again represents an estimate of the uncertainty in the $`\pi \rho `$ transition form factor, as in Fig. 3. At $`Q^2=1`$ GeV2 the higher twist contribution is as large as the leading twist, decreasing to $`1/3`$ at $`Q^2=2`$ GeV2, and vanishes rapidly for $`Q^25`$ GeV2.

As observed in Ref. PILET , the size of the higher twist contribution at $`Q^21`$ GeV2 appears larger than that found in similar analyses of the proton $`F_2`$ JF2  and $`g_1`$ JG1  structure functions. This can be qualitatively understood in terms of the intrinsic transverse momentum of quarks in the hadron, $`k_T^2`$, which typically sets the scale of the higher twist effects. Since the transverse momentum is roughly given by the inverse size of the hadron, $`k_T^21/R^2`$, the smaller confinement radius of the pion means that the average $`k_T^2`$ of quarks in the pion will be larger than that in the nucleon. Therefore the magnitude of higher twists in $`F_2^\pi `$ is expected to be somewhat larger ($`𝒪(50\%)`$) than in $`F_2^p`$. The E615 Collaboration indeed finds the value $`k_T^2=0.8\pm 0.3`$ GeV2, within the higher twist model of Ref. BB . The experimental value is obtained by analyzing the $`x1`$ dependence of the measured $`\mu ^+\mu ^{}`$ pairs produced in $`\pi N`$ collisions, and the angular distribution at large $`x`$. We discuss this in more detail below.

### IV.2 $`x1`$ Behavior

The $`x1`$ behavior of structure functions is important for several reasons. As discussed in the previous section, higher moments of $`F_2^\pi `$ receive increasingly large contributions from the large-$`x`$ region, so that a reliable extraction of higher twists from data requires an accurate determination of quark distributions at $`x1`$. In addition, since the $`x1`$ region is dominated by the lowest $`q\overline{q}`$ Fock state component of the pion light-cone wave function, in which the interacting quark carries most of the momentum of the pion, the behavior of the structure function at $`x1`$ is expected to be correlated with that of the elastic form factor at $`Q^2\mathrm{}`$. In this section we review various predictions for $`F_2^\pi `$ in the limit as $`x1`$, and relate these to the effects of higher twists discussed in the previous section on the $`x1`$ behavior of the structure function.

Working within a field theoretic parton model framework which predates QCD, Drell and Yan DY  and West WEST  showed that if the asymptotic behavior of the form factor is $`(1/Q^2)^n`$, then the structure function should behave as $`(1x)^{2n1}`$ as $`x1`$. This is referred to as the Drell-Yan-West (DYW) relation. Simple application to the case of the pion, in which the elastic form factor behaves as $`1/Q^2`$ at large $`Q^2`$, leads to the prediction

$`F_2^\pi (x1)`$ $``$ $`(1x).`$ (13)
This behavior is also predicted in the model of Ref. GBB .

A dynamical basis for the exclusive–inclusive relation was provided with the advent of QCD. By observing that the interacting quark at large $`x`$ is far off its mass shell, Farrar and Jackson FJ  derived the $`x1`$ behavior of the structure function at $`x1`$ by considering perturbative one gluon exchange between the $`q`$ and $`\overline{q}`$ constituents in the lowest Fock state component of the pion wave function. They found a characteristic $`(1x)^2`$ dependence for the transverse part of $`F_2^\pi `$, in apparent contradiction with the naive DYW relation (the breakdown of the DYW relation for spinless hadrons was discussed earlier by Landshoff and Polkinghorne LANDSHOFF ). The longitudinal cross section was found to scale like $`1/Q^2`$ relative to the transverse FJ . Using so-called ‘softened’ field theory BRODFAR , in which the pion-quark vertex function is described by a Bethe-Salpeter type equation, Ezawa EZAWA  found a similar $`(1x)^2`$ behavior.

Gunion et al. GUNION  later generalized the gluon exchange description to include subleading $`1/Q^2`$ corrections for both the $`F_2^\pi `$ and longitudinal $`F_L^\pi `$ structure functions at $`x1`$,

$`F_2^\pi (x)`$ $``$ $`S_2(1x)^2+{\displaystyle \frac{T_2}{Q^2}},`$ (14)
$`F_L^\pi (x)`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{S_L}{Q^2}},`$ (15)
where the constants $`S_2`$, $`T_2`$ and $`S_L`$ are determined phenomenologically. More generally, according to the pQCD ‘counting rules’ LB , the leading components for any hadron with $`n`$ spectator (non-interacting) partons were found GUNION  to behave as $`(1x)^{2n1+2|\mathrm{\Delta }S_z|}`$ in the $`x1`$ limit, where $`\mathrm{\Delta }S_z`$ is the difference between the helicities of the hadron and the interacting quark. More recently, other nonperturbative models have been used to calculate the pion structure function PIONMODELS , however, because of difficulties associated with incorporating high momentum components of the wave function, these may not be reliable in the $`x1`$ region.

The predicted $`x1`$ behavior of the pion structure function can be tested by comparing with Drell-Yan data. The $`x`$ dependence of the pion quark distributions has been measured in Drell-Yan $`\mu ^+\mu ^{}`$ pair production in $`\pi N`$ collisions (in practice, $`\pi A`$) at BNL BNLDY , CERN NA3 ; NA10  and at Fermilab FNALDY ; E615 . The data for $`q^\pi (x)u^{\pi ^+}(x)=\overline{d}^{\pi ^+}(x)`$ from the most recent Fermilab experiment E615  are shown in Fig. 5 for $`4.05<m_{\mu \mu }<8.55`$ GeV, where $`m_{\mu \mu }`$ is the invariant mass of the $`\mu ^+\mu ^{}`$ pair. The scale dependence within this region was found to be small E615 . The data were fitted using the form

$`q^\pi (x,Q^2)`$ $`=`$ $`Nx^a(1x)^b+\gamma {\displaystyle \frac{2x^2}{9Q^2}},`$ (16)
where $`N`$ is a constant, fixed by normalization, and the scale $`Q^2`$ is identified with the the dimuon mass squared, $`m_{\mu \mu }^2`$. The form (16) parameterizes both leading and higher twist effects. Including corrections from $`Q^2`$ evolution, the best fit value for the exponent governing the $`x1`$ behavior was found to be $`b1.21`$–1.30 E615 , consistent with the findings of the earlier CERN experiments NA3 ; NA10 . The result of the leading twist E615 fit with $`b=1.27`$ is shown in Fig. 5 (dashed). The forms $`(1x)`$ DY ; WEST ; GBB  and $`(1x)^2`$ EZAWA ; LB ; FJ ; GUNION ; MUELLERX1  are also shown for comparison at large $`x`$ (dotted). The data clearly favor a shape closer to $`(1x)`$, rather than the $`(1x)^2`$ shape implied by the counting rules LB .

It has been suggested BB  that higher twist effects in the pion structure function could obscure the true leading twist behavior. The higher twist coefficient $`T_2`$ was calculated in a pQCD-inspired model by Berger and Brodsky BB  in terms of the intrinsic quark momentum in the pion,

$`T_2`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{2}{9}}{\displaystyle \frac{k_T^2}{Q^2}}.`$ (17)
Since it is independent of $`x`$, it can be argued BB  that the higher twist contribution may in fact dominate the scaling term at fixed $`Q^2(1x)`$ as $`Q^2\mathrm{}`$, and mimic the observed $`(1x)`$ dependence if $`k_T^21`$ GeV2. Conway et al. E615  subsequently performed an analysis of the E615 data by fitting also the term $`\gamma `$ in Eq. (16). The extracted value of $`b`$ was found to be largely independent of the value of $`\gamma `$ chosen. To investigate whether the quadratic term may be masked by an additional component not included in the model BB , Conway et al. searched for a nonzero intercept of $`F_2^\pi `$ at $`x=1`$. The fit with $`\gamma =0.83`$ GeV2 was found to be only marginally better than that with $`\gamma =0`$ (the significance being 2.5 standard deviations), although the fit at $`x1`$ was also sensitive to the input nucleon sea distributions in the analysis of the Drell-Yan data. The leading + higher twist fit with $`\gamma =0.83`$ GeV2 is shown in Fig. 5 (solid curve). The effect on the overall fit is indeed quite marginal, although at very large $`x`$ ($`0.9`$) the differences between this and the pure leading twist fit are more apparent.

Mueller MUELLERX1  has pointed out that Sudakov effects, which introduce terms like $`\alpha _s(Q^2)\mathrm{ln}^2(1/(1x))`$ into the $`x1`$ analysis, may invalidate the usual renormalization group analysis of DIS at large $`x`$. Including power and double logarithmic corrections, one finds that the $`x1`$ behavior of $`F_2^\pi `$ in this case becomes MUELLERX1

$`F_2^\pi `$ $``$ $`(1x)^2\mathrm{exp}\left\{{\displaystyle \frac{4C_F}{\beta _0}}\left[\mathrm{ln}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{1x}}\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{ln}Q^2{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{ln}^2(1/(1x))}{2\mathrm{ln}Q^2}}\mathrm{ln}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{1x}}\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{ln}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{1x}}\right]\right\}.`$
When $`\mathrm{ln}(1/(1x))=𝒪(\mathrm{ln}Q^2/\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{ln}Q^2)`$ higher twist terms compete with the leading twist, and the dominant contribution is then from the longitudinal structure function, which behaves as $`F_L^\pi (1/Q^2)\mathrm{ln}(Q^2(1x))`$. Taking this criterion literally, for $`Q^21`$ GeV2 this would occur at $`x0.93`$, while for $`Q^2100`$ GeV2 the higher twists would be expected to dominate at $`x0.97`$. A cautionary note regarding Eq. (LABEL:Mueller), however, is that single logarithmic effects have not been included in the analysis, and their effects on Eq. (LABEL:Mueller) are unclear. Further discussion of these effects can be found in Refs. MUELLERHT ; MUELLERX1 . Carlson and Mukhopadhyay CMQ2  have also studied the effects of radiative corrections on the $`x1`$ behavior of the structure function, and the appearance of higher twists in the low-$`W`$ region. In particular, the scale dependence of the $`(1x)`$ exponent was found to be $`(1x)^{b+c\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{ln}Q^2}`$, with $`c`$ calculable perturbatively. The $`Q^2`$ dependence of the pion structure function at $`x1`$ clearly deserves further study.

A cleaner signature of high twist effects at large $`x`$ comes from the angular distribution of dimuon pairs produced in Drell-Yan collisions. The angular dependence of the Drell-Yan cross section is given by LAMTUNG  (see also Ref. BRAND )

$`{\displaystyle \frac{d\sigma }{d\mathrm{\Omega }}}`$ $``$ $`1+\lambda \mathrm{cos}^2\theta +\mu \mathrm{sin}2\theta \mathrm{cos}\varphi +{\displaystyle \frac{\nu }{2}}\mathrm{sin}^2\theta \mathrm{cos}2\varphi ,`$ (19)
where the angles $`\theta `$ and $`\varphi `$ are defined in the $`\mu ^+\mu ^{}`$ rest system, and $`\lambda `$, $`\mu `$ and $`\nu `$ are functions of the kinematic variables. In the model of Ref. BB , the leading twist $`(1x)^2`$ term is associated with a $`(1+\mathrm{cos}^2\theta )`$ dependence, while the higher twist $`k_T^2/Q^2`$ term has a characteristic $`\mathrm{sin}^2\theta `$ dependence. In particular, the transverse cross section corresponds to $`\lambda =1`$, while deviation from a pure $`(1+\mathrm{cos}^2\theta )`$ dependence would indicate the presence of longitudinal or higher twist contributions. The data E615  are consistent with $`\lambda =1`$ for $`x0.6`$, while the larger-$`x`$ data show clear deviations from pure transverse scattering, suggesting the presence of higher twist contributions at these $`x`$ values. With the fitted value of $`\beta `$ ($`1.2`$–1.3), the measured $`x`$ dependence of $`\lambda `$ could be accommodated with $`k_T^20.8`$ GeV2. Using the value $`\beta =2`$ predicted by the pQCD counting rules, the observed $`\lambda `$ values could be made to fit the data by requiring that $`k_T^20.1`$ GeV2. However, in addition to being much smaller than the value $`k_T^21`$ GeV2 suggested in Ref. BB , this scenario is disfavored by a direct comparison with the $`x`$ dependence of $`q^\pi (x)`$, as discussed above.

While the values of the quark intrinsic transverse momentum extracted from the Drell-Yan data are consistent with the size of higher twist effects observed in Sec. III, there does appear to be a clear conflict between the counting rule predictions for the $`x1`$ behavior of $`F_2^\pi `$ and the empirical $`x`$ dependence. Several reasons could account for this discrepancy. Even higher twist effects, beyond those of twist-4 parameterized in Eq. (16), could be present and obfuscate an underlying $`(1x)^2`$ leading twist behavior. This appears unlikely, however, given the relatively large $`Q^2`$ values ($`Q^220`$ GeV2) at which the data are sampled, and the rapid fall off of the higher twist contributions to the moments observed in Sec. IV.A.

On the other hand, as alluded to above, the extraction of the pion structure function requires as input the parton distributions in the nucleon. Since the bulk of the data for $`x>0.5`$ corresponds to a nucleon light-cone momentum fraction $`x_N0.05`$–0.1, errors may be introduced into the analysis through poor knowledge of the sea quark, or (at higher order) gluon, distributions in the nucleon. Furthermore, because the data are taken on nuclear targets (e.g. tungsten for the E615 experiment), nuclear effects may give rise to corrections to the nucleon quark distributions, especially in the region $`x_N0.05`$, where nuclear shadowing is known to play an important role SHAD . The effects of using more modern nucleon parton distributions, and including nuclear corrections in the analysis, are currently being investigated KRISHNI .

It may also be that the asymptotic behavior does not set in until $`x`$ is very close to 1, and that the functional form (16) is simply too restrictive to adequately reflect this behavior, in which case a more sophisticated parameterization would be required. Further, nonobservation of the predicted counting rule behavior may not necessarily imply a breakdown of pQCD. The derivation of the counting rules for large-$`x`$ structure functions from Feynman diagrams in terms of hard gluon exchanges between quarks involves an infrared cut-off mass parameter, $`m`$, which regulates the integrals when $`k_T0`$ GUNION ; HOODBHOY . Although an analysis based on pQCD should be valid also for $`m=0`$, the counting rule results are sensitive to the parameter, $`m`$, and comparison with phenomenology requires a nonzero value GUNION .

Regardless of the ultimate $`x1`$ behavior of $`F_2^\pi `$ extracted from data, it is instructive to examine whether the asymptotic inclusive–exclusive relations between the pion structure function and the pion elastic and transition form factors at large $`Q^2`$ can provide additional constraints. In the next section we use local quark-hadron duality to study these relations in more detail.

## V Local Quark-Hadron Duality

There has been a revival of interest recently in the phenomenon of Bloom-Gilman duality in electron–nucleon scattering. This has been stimulated largely by recent high precision measurements NICU  at Jefferson Lab of the $`F_2`$ structure function of the proton, which demonstrated that duality works remarkably well for each of the prominent low-lying resonance regions, including the elastic EL ; MEL , as well as for the integrated structure function, to rather low values of $`Q^2`$. Ongoing and planned future studies will focus on duality in other structure functions, such as $`g_1`$ FOREST  and $`F_L`$ ERIC , and for hadrons other than the proton.

While the existence of local quark-hadron duality appears inevitable in QCD at asymptotically large momenta IJMV ; DUALMOD , it is not a priori clear that it should work at finite $`Q^2`$. Indeed, there are reasons why at low $`Q^2`$ it should not work at all IJMV , and its appearance may in principle be due to accidental cancellations (due to quark charges in the proton CI ; GOTT , for instance) of possibly large higher twist effects. A systematic study of local duality for other hadrons, such as the pion, is therefore crucial to revealing the true origin of this phenomenon.

Shortly after the original observations of Bloom-Gilman duality for the proton BG , generalizations to the case of the pion were explored. By extending the finite-energy sum rules FESR  devised for the proton duality studies, Moffat and Snell derived a local duality sum rule relating the elastic pion form factor with the scaling structure function of the pion MOFFAT ,

$`[F_\pi (Q^2)]^2`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle _1^{\omega _{\mathrm{max}}}}𝑑\omega \nu W_2^\pi (\omega ),`$ (20)
where $`\nu W_2^\pi F_2^\pi `$ is a function of the scaling variable $`\omega =1/x`$. The upper limit $`\omega _{\mathrm{max}}=1+(W_{\mathrm{max}}^2m_\pi ^2)/Q^2`$ was set in Ref. MOFFAT  by $`W_{\mathrm{max}}1.3`$ GeV, in order for the integration region to include most of the effect of the hadron pole, and not too much contribution from higher resonances MOFFAT . To test the validity of the finite-energy sum rule relation (20), Moffat and Snell MOFFAT , and later Mahapatra MAHAPATRA , constructed Regge-based models of the pion structure function (their analyses predated the Drell-Yan pion structure function measurements BNLDY ; FNALDY ; NA3 ; NA10 ; E615 ) to compare with the then available pion form factor data.

The existence of Drell-Yan data on $`F_2^\pi `$ now allows one to test this relation quantitatively using only phenomenological input. Using parameterizations of the $`F_2^\pi (x)`$ data from Ref. E615  (see Fig. 5), the resulting form factor $`F_\pi (Q^2)`$ extracted from Eq. (20) is shown in Fig. 6. The agreement appears remarkably good. On the other hand, the magnitude of the form factor depends somewhat on the precise value chosen for $`W_{\mathrm{max}}`$, so the agreement in Fig. 6 should not be taken too literally. Nevertheless, the shape of the form factor is determined by the $`x`$ dependence of the structure function at large $`x`$. In particular, while a $`(1x)`$ behavior leads to a similar $`Q^2`$ dependence to that for the E615 fit, assuming a $`(1x)^2`$ behavior gives a form factor which drops more rapidly with $`Q^2`$. This simply reflects the kinematic constraint $`(11/\omega )1/Q^2`$ at fixed $`W`$.

Although the apparent phenomenological success of the local duality relation (20) is alluring, there are theoretical reasons why its foundations may be questioned. In fact, the workings of local duality for the pion are even more intriguing than for the nucleon. Because it has spin 0, elastic scattering from the pion contributes only to the longitudinal cross section ($`F_T^\pi (x=1,Q^2)=0`$). On the other hand, the spin 1/2 nature of quarks guarantees that the deep inelastic structure function of the pion is dominated at large $`Q^2`$ by the transverse cross section RUJ ; FJ . Taken at face value, the relation (20) would suggest a nontrivial duality relation between longitudinal and transverse cross sections. Whether local duality holds individually for longitudinal and transverse cross sections, or for their sum, is currently being investigated experimentally. Indications from proton data are that indeed some sort of duality holds for both the transverse and longitudinal structure functions of the proton individually NICU ; ERIC .

While the elastic form factor of the pion is purely longitudinal, the $`\pi \rho `$ transition is purely transverse. It has been suggested RUJ  that the average of the pion elastic and $`\pi \rho `$ transition form factors may instead dual the deep inelastic pion structure function at $`x1`$. If we take the simple model used in Sec. IV for the low $`W`$ part of the pion structure function, in which the inclusive pion spectrum at $`W1`$ GeV is dominated by the $`\pi \pi `$ and $`\pi \rho `$ transitions, we can estimate the degree to which such a duality may be valid. Generalizing Eq. (20) to include the lowest-lying longitudinal and transverse contributions to the structure function, one can replace the left hand side of (20) with $`[F_\pi (Q^2)]^2+\omega _\rho [F_{\pi \rho }(Q^2)]^2`$, where $`\omega _\rho =1+(m_\rho ^2m_\pi ^2)/Q^2`$.

The sum of the lowest two ‘resonance’ contributions (elastic + $`\rho `$) to the generalized finite-energy sum rule is shown in Fig. 7 as a ratio to the corresponding leading twist DIS structure function over a similar range of $`W`$. The upper and lower sets of curves envelop different models ITOGROSS ; MARIS ; KHODJ  of $`F_{\pi \rho }(Q^2)`$, which can be seen as an indicator of the current uncertainty in the calculation. Integrating to $`W_{\mathrm{max}}=1`$ GeV, the resonance/DIS ratio at $`Q^22`$ GeV2 is $`50\pm 30\%`$ above unity, and is consistent with unity for $`Q^24`$–6 GeV2 (solid curves). As a test of the sensitivity of the results to the value of $`W_{\mathrm{max}}`$, the resonance/DIS ratio is also shown for $`W_{\mathrm{max}}=1.3`$ GeV (dotted curves). In this case the agreement is better for $`Q^21`$–3 GeV2, with the ratio being $`30\pm 20\%`$ below unity for $`Q^24`$–6 GeV2.

Given the simple nature of the model used for the excitation spectrum, and the poor knowledge of the $`\pi \rho `$ transition form factor, as well as of the pion elastic form factor beyond $`Q^22`$ GeV2, the comparison can only be viewed as qualitative. However, the agreement between the DIS and resonance contributions appears promising. Clearly, data on the inclusive $`\pi `$ spectrum at low $`W`$ would be invaluable for testing the local duality hypothesis more quantitatively. In addition, measurement of the individual transverse and longitudinal cross sections of the pion, using Rosenbluth separation techniques, would allow duality to be tested separately for the longitudinal and transverse structure functions of the pion.

## VI Conclusion

Understanding the structure of the pion represents a fundamental challenge in QCD. High energy scattering experiments reveal its quark and gluon substructure, while at low energies its role as a Goldstone boson mode associated with chiral symmetry breaking in QCD is essential in describing the long-range structure and interactions of hadrons. We have sought to elucidate the structure of the pion by considering its response to electromagnetic probes, focusing in particular on the connection between inclusive and exclusive channels.

The relation between the pion structure function and the pion elastic and transition form factors has been studied in the context of quark-hadron duality. Moments of the pion structure function have been evaluated, and the role of the resonance region studied, assuming that the low $`W`$ resonant spectrum is dominated by the elastic and $`\pi \rho `$ transitions. The contribution of the resonance region ($`W1`$ GeV) to the lowest moment of $`F_2^\pi `$ is $`50\%`$ at $`Q^22`$ GeV2, and only falls below 10% for $`Q^25`$ GeV2. The elastic component, while negligible for $`Q^23`$ GeV2, is comparable to the leading twist contribution at $`Q^21`$ GeV2. Combined, this means that the higher twist corrections to the $`n=2`$ moment are $`50\%`$ at $`Q^2=1`$ GeV2, $`30\%`$ at $`Q^2=2`$ GeV2, and only become insignificant beyond $`Q^26`$ GeV2.

Uncertainties on these estimates are mainly due to the poor knowledge of the inclusive pion spectrum at low $`W`$, which limits the extent to which duality in the pion can be tested quantitatively. Only the elastic form factor has been accurately measured to $`Q^22`$ GeV2, although at larger $`Q^2`$ it is poorly constrained. The inclusive pion spectrum can be extracted from data from the semi-inclusive charge-exchange reaction, $`epenX`$, at low $`t`$, for instance at Jefferson Lab BURKERT . This could also allow one to determine the individual exclusive channels at low $`W`$. In addition, a Rosenbluth separation would allow the transverse and longitudinal structure functions to be extracted.

Within the current uncertainties, the higher twist effects in the pion appear larger than the analogous corrections extracted from moments of the nucleon structure functions JF2 ; JG1 . This can be generically understood in terms of the larger intrinsic transverse momentum of quarks, which governs the scale of the $`1/Q^2`$ corrections, in the pion than in nucleon, associated with the smaller pion confinement radius. The implication is that duality would therefore be expected to set in later (at larger $`Q^2`$) for the pion than for the nucleon.

Higher twist effects have also been observed in the pion structure function at large $`x`$ by the E615 Collaboration at Fermilab E615 . The $`x`$ dependence and angular distribution of $`\mu ^+\mu ^{}`$ pairs produced in $`\pi N`$ collisions at $`x1`$ suggests a value $`k_T^2=0.8\pm 0.3`$ GeV2, which is larger than the typical quark transverse momentum in the nucleon ($`𝒪`$(500 MeV)). On the other hand, the measured $`x`$ dependence appears to be harder than that predicted by counting rules LB  or models based on perturbative one gluon exchange EZAWA ; BB ; FJ ; GUNION , favoring a $`(1x)`$ shape over a $`(1x)^2`$ dependence. A reanalysis KRISHNI  of the Drell-Yan data to take into account nuclear corrections and updated sea quark distributions in the nucleon, which are used as input into the analysis, is necessary for a definitive assessment of the validity of the various approaches. Additional modification of the $`x1`$ behavior due to Sudakov-like effects MUELLERX1  may also need to be considered before drawing final conclusions about the implications of the observed $`x1`$ dependence. There are also plans to measure $`F_2^\pi `$ in semi-inclusive reactions over a range of $`x`$ at Jefferson Lab KRISHNI12  to confirm the Drell-Yan and semi-inclusive HERA measurements, which should allow a more thorough exploration of the higher twist effects at lower $`Q^2`$.

The specific $`x1`$ behavior of the pion structure function has consequences for the $`Q^2`$ dependence of the elastic pion form factor, if one assumes the validity of local quark-hadron duality for the pion. In particular, using parameterizations of the Drell-Yan structure function data, the existing data on $`F_\pi (Q^2)`$ can be fitted if the upper limit of the integration region above the elastic peak extends to $`W_{\mathrm{max}}1.3`$ GeV. Analogous fits with a $`(1x)^2`$ shape fall off too rapidly with $`Q^2`$ and do not fit $`F_\pi (Q^2)`$ as well.

On the other hand, there may be limitations of the extent to which local duality can hold for the pion, as such duality implies a nontrivial relationship between the longitudinal and transverse cross sections. It may in fact be more appropriate to examine whether the sum of the longitudinal (elastic) and transverse ($`\pi \rho `$ transition) contributions duals the DIS structure function at low $`W`$. Using phenomenological models for the $`\pi \rho `$ form factor, our estimate for the sum of the lowest-lying resonant contributions is in qualitative agreement with the corresponding scaling contribution in the same $`W`$ interval. However, empirical information on the strength and $`Q^2`$ dependence of $`F_{\pi \rho }(Q^2)`$ is necessary for a more quantitative test. The $`\pi \rho `$ transition form factor can in practice be extracted from $`\rho `$ electroproduction data KOSSOV . At larger $`Q^2`$, the $`\pi \rho `$ transition is expected to be suppressed relative to the elastic contribution, and to test the local duality here will require a more accurate determination of $`F_\pi (Q^2)`$. The pion form factor $`F_\pi (Q^2)`$ will soon be measured to $`Q^2=2.5`$ GeV2 at Jefferson Lab MACK  in $`\pi ^+`$ electroproduction from the proton, and possibly to $`Q^2=6`$ GeV2 with an energy upgraded facility WHITE .

Finally, this analysis can be easily extended to the strangeness sector, to study the duality between the form factor and structure function of the kaon. Data from the Drell-Yan reaction in $`K^{}`$–nucleus collisions KAONSF  indicate that the quark distribution in the kaon is similar to that in the pion, and measurements of the kaon form factor, $`F_K(Q^2)`$, have also recently been reported KAONFF . Future measurements of $`F_K(Q^2)`$ at larger $`Q^2`$ ($`2`$ GeV2) MACK  would allow the first quantitative test of local Bloom-Gilman duality in strange hadrons.

###### Acknowledgements.

Helpful discussions with V. Burkert, R. Ent, P. Hoodbhoy, D. Mack, and K. Wijesooriya are gratefully acknowledged. I would also like to thank F. Gross, P. Maris and P. Tandy for sending the results of their form factor calculations. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy contract DE-AC05-84ER40150, under which the Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA) operates the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab).


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# Quantum scissors: teleportation of single-mode optical states by means of a nonlocal single photon

## a Introduction

Quantum teleportation (QT) is the transport of an unknown quantum state $`|\varphi `$ over arbitrary distances by means of dual classical and Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) channels. To perform teleportation, the sender, Alice, and the receiver, Bob, prearrange the sharing of an EPR-correlated pair of particles. Alice makes a joint measurement on her EPR particle and the source state and sends Bob the classical result of this measurement. Knowing this, Bob can convert the state of his EPR particle into an exact copy of the source state. In this way neither Alice nor Bob obtain any information about the state $`|\varphi `$ but this state is available at Bob’s location for future use.

Although teleportation of macroscopic objects is far beyond modern technology, quantum teleportation of microscopic states may find its application in the observable future as a key ingredient of quantum communication and computation. It can be used in combination with non-deterministic computational gates to enhance their success probability, thus making schemes involving such gates scalable and efficient . This is the role QT plays in the recently proposed scheme for efficient quantum computation with linear optics .

After its proposal in 1993 by Bennett et al. , QT has been implemented experimentally on discrete-  and continuous-variable optical states  as well as on molecular spins . All these schemes used an EPR pair maximally entangled in a Hilbert space which is isomorphic to the Hilbert space of the source state. This identity allows, in principle, exact replication of the source state by Bob.

An interesting extension of the Bennett protocol arises, however, if the source state lives in the Hilbert space of higher dimension than the EPR pair. In this case all terms of the source state associated with the dimensions beyond that of the EPR pair will be “cut off” from the teleported state. This is known as the quantum scissors (QS) effect first described theoretically in 1998 by Pegg, Phillips, and Barnett  and implemented experimentally in the present work.

In the heart of our teleportation experiment there is an EPR pair implemented by a nonlocal single photon state $`|\mathrm{\Psi }^{}=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(|1|0|0|1)`$ which is generated when a single photon $`|1`$, incident upon a symmetric beam splitter, entangles itself with the vacuum $`|0`$. It is remarkable that our EPR ensemble is formed by just one particle; yet this is a maximally entangled state in the two-dimensional Hilbert space defined by basis vectors $`|0`$ and $`|1`$.

We apply the state $`|\mathrm{\Psi }^{}`$ to teleport arbitrary single-mode quantum states of the electromagnetic field that belong to the Hilbert space of infinite dimension. If a random quantum state is given by $`|\varphi =a_n|n`$ in the number (Fock) state basis, the scissors effect will truncate the above series, leading to the output of a form $`|\varphi _{\mathrm{out}}=a_0|0+a_1|1`$. In simpler words, the higher number terms cannot reach Bob because there is never more than one photon in the original EPR state $`|\mathrm{\Psi }^{}`$.

In our actual experiment, the role of the source ensemble was played by a coherent state $`|\alpha `$. Since this state has an infinite number of terms in its Fock expansion, it is well suitable for demonstrating quantum scissors; on the other hand it is readily available from the source laser. Alice’s Bell-state measurement is performed by overlapping the source state and her share of the EPR state on a beam splitter and measuring the number of photons in each output (Fig. 1). Events in which the detector $`D_1`$ registers exactly one photon while $`D_2`$ registers zero photons correspond to the two-mode state $`|\mathrm{\Psi }^{}_{12}`$ entering Alice’s apparatus in modes 1 and 2. If this is the case, Bob’s share of the EPR state (mode 3) is in the state $`|\varphi _{\mathrm{out}}`$ so no additional manipulations are required from Bob to complete the QT protocol. Restricting to these events, we perform a homodyne measurement on the teleported ensembles in order to characterize them and determine the teleportation fidelity.

Full implementation of the scissors protocol requires, in particular, highly efficient single-photon detectors capable of determining the number of incident photons. Although such detectors are currently being developed , they are not widely available. Fortunately, the protocol exhibits surprisingly good fidelity even with regular, non-discriminating single-photon detectors as long as the amplitude of the source state is sufficiently small .

The QS protocol finds its direct application as an integral part of the single-rail version of the linear optical quantum computer recently proposed by Lund and Ralph . Apart from the quantum gate efficiency enhancement discussed earlier, this technique is useful for preparing quantum bits of arbitrary value. Although conditional preparation of superpositions $`a_0|0+a_1|1`$ has been reported earlier , the present scheme is highly efficient, employs only passive optics and can be extended to multi-photon ensembles .

In a related experiment, Lombardi et al. recently used the nonlocal photon for partial teleportation of a single-photon qubit encoded in a dual optical channel. One part of the entangled source state was teleported to Bob by means of a Bell measurement while the other was transported to Bob directly . The main difference between Ref.  and this work is that the former required a direct quantum channel between Alice and Bob to complete the transfer of a quantum state, whereas the latter is a straightforward implementation of the Bennett protocol  in the form of quantum scissors .

We note that our teleportation scheme is of a priori nature in the context of the discussion , i.e. teleportation events need not be postselected according to the result of Bob’s measurements. Whenever Alice obtains a positive result of the Bell measurement, it is known that the teleportation has been successful and the teleported state is available for future use.

## b Theory

The practical implementation of the QS protocol requires a source of single photons in a pure optical mode matching that of the source ensemble. We solve this task by means of conditional measurement on a down-converted pair: the single photon state $`|1`$ is prepared in the signal channel of the down-converter when its counterpart is detected in the idler . Theoretical treatment of the scissors protocol in this configuration has been elaborated by Özdemir et al. , so here we only present a brief overview.

Preparation of the single photon state is imperfect: dark counts of our trigger detector ($`D_T`$) and optical losses result in a statistical mixture of one photon and no photon instead of a pure $`|1`$ state. The ensemble entering the first beam splitter is therefore

$`\widehat{\rho }_{|1}=\eta _{|1}|11\left|+(1\eta _{|1})\right|00|,`$ (1)
$`\eta _{|1}`$ being the preparation efficiency.

The density matrix of the EPR pair used for teleportation $`\widehat{\rho }^{\mathrm{epr}}`$ can be found by applying the beam splitter transformation operator

$`\widehat{B}|m,n`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{j,k=0}{\overset{m,n}{}}}\sqrt{{\displaystyle \frac{(j+k)!(m+njk)!}{m!n!}}}\left(\begin{array}{c}m\\ j\end{array}\right)\left(\begin{array}{c}n\\ k\end{array}\right)`$ (6)
$`\times (1)^k2^{(n+m)/2}|j+k,m+njk`$ . (7)
to the incident combination of $`\widehat{\rho }_{|1}`$ and the vacuum:

$`\widehat{\rho }^{\mathrm{epr}}=\widehat{B}\left(|00|\widehat{\rho }_{|1}\right)\widehat{B}^{}.`$ (8)
The source coherent state and one of the EPR “particles” enter Alice’s apparatus where they undergo further transformation via another beamsplitter. After this transformation, the density matrix of the 3-mode ensemble can be written as

$`\widehat{\rho }_{123}=\widehat{B}_{12}\left(|\alpha _1\alpha |_1\widehat{\rho }_{23}^{\mathrm{epr}}\right)\widehat{B}_{12}^{},`$ (9)
where the subscripts refer to the optical modes according to Fig. 1.

The first two modes of $`\widehat{\rho }_{123}`$ are subjected to measurements via single-photon detectors. A non-discriminating detector of quantum efficiency $`\eta _{\mathrm{SPD}}`$ is described by the following positive operator-valued measure (POVM):

$`\widehat{\mathrm{\Pi }}^{\mathrm{no}\mathrm{click}}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{n=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}(1\eta _{\mathrm{SPD}})^n|nn|`$ (10)
$`\widehat{\mathrm{\Pi }}^{\mathrm{click}}`$ $`=`$ $`\widehat{1}\widehat{\mathrm{\Pi }}^{\mathrm{no}\mathrm{click}}.`$ (11)
This measurement leads to a collapse of $`\widehat{\rho }_{123}`$ projecting it in the event of a “click” in detector $`D_1`$ and “no click” in detector $`D_2`$ upon the following non-normalized ensemble in Bob’s channel:

$`\widehat{\rho }_{\mathrm{out}}=\mathrm{Tr}_{12}(\widehat{\rho }_{123}\widehat{\mathrm{\Pi }}_1^{\mathrm{click}}\widehat{\mathrm{\Pi }}_2^{\mathrm{no}\mathrm{click}}).`$ (12)
The probability of a teleportation event is given by $`p_{\mathrm{tel}}=\mathrm{Tr}(\widehat{\rho }_{\mathrm{out}})`$.

Imperfect spatial, spectral or temporal mode matching between Alice’s share of the nonlocal single photon and the source state $`|\alpha `$ leads to partial distinguishability and more classical-like behavior, reducing the teleportation fidelity. In case of a complete mode mismatch, the behavior of the system is fully described by a semiclassical model in which photons act like particles with no wave properties. Each beam splitter distributes the incident photons randomly into the output channels. The correlated photon number distribution in the three modes can be calculated according to the laws of classical statistics. From this distribution we infer the probability $`p_{\mathrm{tel}}^{\mathrm{sc}}`$ of the positive Bell measurement outcome as well as the conditional probability $`p_{\mathrm{out}}^{\mathrm{sc}}`$ that Bob’s mode contains a photon. The ensemble received by Bob can then be expressed as a density matrix

$$\widehat{\rho }_{\mathrm{out}}^{\mathrm{sc}}=\left(\begin{array}{cc}1p_{\mathrm{out}}^{\mathrm{sc}}& 0\\ 0& p_{\mathrm{out}}^{\mathrm{sc}}\end{array}\right).$$
(13)
In the actual case of partial mode matching, the output ensemble is a mixture of those calculated via classical and semiclassical models

$$\widehat{\rho }^{\mathrm{Bob}}=Mp_{\mathrm{out}}N[\widehat{\rho }_{\mathrm{out}}]+(1M)p_{\mathrm{out}}^{\mathrm{sc}}N[\widehat{\rho }_{\mathrm{out}}^{\mathrm{sc}}],$$
(14)
where $`M`$ is the mode matching factor  and $`N[\widehat{\rho }]`$ denotes normalization.

Imperfections in the homodyne detection of the teleported state such as poor mode matching between the local oscillator and the signal, linear losses, inefficient photodiodes or imperfect balance can all be modeled by a single beam splitter with one empty input in the signal beam with a reflectivity $`\eta _{\mathrm{HD}}`$ (generalized Bernoulli transformation) .

## c Experimental apparatus

The setup for preparing the single-photon Fock state was the same as in our previous experiments . A 82-MHz repetition rate train of 1.6-ps pulses generated by a Spectra-Physics Ti:Sapphire laser at 790 nm was frequency doubled and directed into a beta-barium borate crystal for down-conversion. The latter occurred in a type-one frequency-degenerate, but spatially non-degenerate configuration. The single-photon detector $`D_T`$, placed into the idler channel of the down-converter, detected photon-pair creation events and triggered all further measurements.

Pulses containing conditionally-prepared photons entered the optical arrangement shown in Fig. 1, which had to be maintained interferometrically stable throughout the experimental run. The coherent source state $`|\alpha `$ and the local oscillator for homodyne detection were provided by the master Ti:Sapphire laser. These two modes had to be matched, spatially and temporally, to the respective modes of the EPR pair. To this end, we modeled the single photon by a classical wave as described in . The mode matching was then optimized by maximizing the visibility of the interference fringes observed in the beam splitter outputs. The visibility value provided a basis for a ballpark estimation of the mode matching factor $`M`$.

Further knowledge of the experimental parameters was gained through an auxiliary tomography measurement in which the ensemble arriving to Bob was characterized without conditioning on Alice’s results. This ensemble is a statistical mixture of states $`|0`$ and $`|1`$ with the single-photon fraction equal to $`\eta _{|1}\eta _{\mathrm{HD}}/2`$. We found $`\eta _{|1}\eta _{\mathrm{HD}}0.49`$

All single-photon detectors used were from Perkin-Elmer, SPCM-AQ series, with quantum efficiencies (including the filtering optics) of about $`\eta _{\mathrm{SPD}}0.5`$. The homodyne measurement of the teleported state was conditioned upon detectors $`D_1`$ and $`D_T`$ firing and the detector $`D_2`$ not firing. The digital logic employed featured rigorous synchronization control of the photon count events with respect to each other and to the master laser pulses. This helped us reduce the dark count contribution to a negligible level.

The time-domain homodyne detector used for characterizing the teleported state was described in . For each value of $`\alpha `$ approximately 20000 events were collected. The phase of the local oscillator was varied with a piezoelectric transducer. The acquired data was used to calculate the density matrix $`\widehat{\rho }_{\mathrm{out}}^{\mathrm{exp}}`$ of the teleported ensemble by means of the quantum state sampling method . The teleportation fidelity was then evaluated as

$$F=\alpha \left|\widehat{\rho }_{\mathrm{out}}^{\mathrm{exp}}\right|\alpha .$$
(15)
## d Results and discussion

For conceptual verification of the teleportation protocol we performed a measurement run in which we varied the phase of the source state instead of the local oscillator. From the classical point of view, this action should not affect the optical field observed by Bob and therefore its quadrature statistics should remain constant. Yet we observed the optical phase of the teleported ensemble vary in accordance with that of the source (Fig. 2). This result is readily explained by quantum mechanics: by changing the source state phase Alice changes the conditions of the measurement performed on one of the members of the EPR pair. This has a nonlocal effect on the other member which is observed by Bob in his homodyne measurement.

Fig. 3 shows the teleportation fidelity determined experimentally along with the theoretical fit calculated according to Eqs. (12)–(15). There were three fitting parameters: quantum efficiencies $`\eta _{|1}`$ and $`\eta _{\mathrm{HD}}`$ of the single photon preparation and the homodyne detection, respectively, and the mode matching factor $`M`$. By fitting these parameters with fixed $`\eta _{\mathrm{HD}}\eta _{|1}`$ we found $`\eta _{\mathrm{HD}}=0.54`$, $`\eta _{|1}=0.9`$, $`M=0.56`$. Note that the value of $`\eta _{\mathrm{HD}}`$ includes not only the homodyne detector efficiency per se, but also the mode matching of Bob’s ensemble with the local oscillator.

Along with the data pertinent to the actual experiment, Fig. 3 also shows the behavior of the fidelity factor for the idealized quantum-mechanical model with number discriminating detectors and the semiclassical particle model discussed above. All three models exhibit similar qualitative behavior. If the source state is vacuum, a photon detected by Alice must originate from the EPR pair, so Bob receives no photons. The ensemble arriving at Bob’s station is in the vacuum state, and the teleportation fidelity is perfect. For high $`\alpha `$, the input state has almost vanishing vacuum and single-photon terms, the only components of the truncated teleported ensemble. The teleported ensemble is then practically orthogonal to the source state, and the fidelity is low.

Our experimentally measured fidelity is always higher than that predicted semiclassically, showing the importance of quantum nonlocal effects. A remarkable feature is that for low values of $`\alpha `$ the value of $`F`$ is very high, up to 99 per cent. To our knowledge, this is the highest fidelity ever achieved in experimental QT.

## e Conclusion

We reported an experimental realization of quantum scissors, i.e. teleportation of single-mode optical ensembles using the nonlocal single photon state as the EPR pair. The teleported state was examined by homodyne measurement and the fidelity was found to be well above the classical limit. Since we did not postselect the teleportation events according to Bob’s results, this experiment is of a priori nature. To our knowledge, this is the first QT experiment in which the Bell measurement was done in a discrete, and the characterization of the teleported state in a continuous basis.

In perspective we plan to improve our teleportation fidelity by using number discriminating photon detectors . Another possibility would be to extend the QS protocol to synthesize arbitrary truncated superpositions of Fock states $`a_0|0+\mathrm{}+a_n|n`$ . The nonlocal single photon $`|0,1+|1,0`$ is worth further investigation from the point of view of quantum nonlocality .

This work was sponsored by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the Optik-Zentrum Konstanz.