Quark sivers function at small x: spin-dependent odderon and the sub-eikonal evolution

We apply the formalism developed earlier [1, 2] for studying transverse momentum dependent parton distribution functions (TMDs) at small Bjorken x to construct the small-x asymptotics of the quark Sivers function. First, we explicitly construct the complete fundamental “polarized Wilson line” operator to sub-sub-eikonal order: this object can be used to study a variety of quark TMDs at small x. We then express the quark Sivers function in terms of dipole scattering amplitudes containing various components of the “polarized Wilson line” and show that the dominant (eikonal) term which contributes to the quark Sivers function at small x is the spin-dependent odderon, confirming the re- cent results of Dong, Zheng and Zhou [3]. Our conclusion is also similar to the case of the gluon Sivers function derived by Boer, Echevarria, Mulders and Zhou [4] (see also [5]). We also analyze the sub-eikonal corrections to the quark Sivers function using the constructed “polarized Wilson line” operator. We derive new small-x evolution equations re-summing double-logarithmic powers of αs ln2(1/x) with αs the strong coupling constant. We solve the corresponding novel evolution equations in the large-Nc limit, obtaining a sub-eikonal correction to the spin-dependent odderon contribution. We conclude that the quark Sivers function at small x receives contributions from two terms and is given by$$ {f}_{1T}^{\perp q}\left(x,{k}_T^2\right)={C}_O\left(x,{k}_T^2\right)\frac{1}{x}+{C}_1\left({k}_T^2\right){\left(\frac{1}{x}\right)}^0+\cdots $$ f 1 T ⊥ q x k T 2 = C O x k T 2 1 x + C 1 k T 2 1 x 0 + ⋯ with the function CO(x,$$ {k}_T^2 $$ k T 2 ) varying slowly with x and the ellipsis denoting the subasymptotic and sub-sub-eikonal (order-x) corrections.

QCD evolution of the gluon Sivers function in heavy flavor dijet production at the Electron-Ion Collider

Using Soft-Collinear Effective Theory, we develop the transverse-momentum-dependent factorization formalism for heavy flavor dijet production in polarized-proton-electron collisions. We consider heavy flavor mass corrections in the collinear-soft and jet functions, as well as the associated evolution equations. Using this formalism, we generate a prediction for the gluon Sivers asymmetry for charm and bottom dijet production at the future Electron-Ion Collider. Furthermore, we compare theoretical predictions with and without the inclusion of finite quark masses. We find that the heavy flavor mass effects can give sizable corrections to the predicted asymmetry.

Extraction of the Sivers function from SIDIS, Drell-Yan, and W±/Z boson production data with TMD evolution

We perform a global fit of the available polarized Semi-Inclusive Deep Inelastic Scattering (SIDIS), polarized pion-induced Drell-Yan (DY) and W±/Z boson production data at N3LO and NNLO accuracy of the Transverse Momentum Dependent (TMD) evolution, and extract the Sivers function for u, d, s and for sea quarks. The Qiu-Sterman function is determined in a model independent way via the operator product expansion from the extracted Sivers function. The analysis is supplemented by additional studies, such as the estimation of applicability region, the impact of the unpolarized distributions’ uncertainties, the universality of the Sivers functions, positivity constraints, the significance of the sign-change relation, and the comparison with the existing extractions.