Dipartimento di Fisica

Descrizione del progetto

The ProtoTaste project aims at exploring the distribution of the different flavors composing the proton in three-dimensional momentum space.
Nucleons (e.g., protons and neutrons) contain quarks of different flavors (mainly up, down, and strange) and gluons, bound by the strong force of Quantum ChromoDynamics (QCD). The recipe to mix these flavors is however still largely unknown. Much is known about how flavors are distributed in one dimension (longitudinal momentum space), and flavor-blind studies of the distribution of quarks in three dimensions (longitudinal+transverse) have been performed recently. In order to deepen our understanding of the nucleon and of QCD, ProtoTaste will offer a more sophisticated “tasting experience” and disclose the differences between the three-dimensional distribution of different quark flavors and of gluons.

ProtoTaste will consist of two main courses:

1st Course. Determine the differences between the 3D distribution of quarks with different flavors in the proton, by reconstructing flavor-dependent Transverse Momentum Distributions (TMDs), with or without spin.

2nd Course. Explore the 3D distribution of gluons in the proton, by studying observables that are sensitive to gluon Transverse Momentum Distributions.

To extract flavor-dependent information, ProtoTaste will make use of data from several experiments worldwide (mainly at CERN,DESY, JLab, FermiLab, BNL, KEK), already available or planned in the near future. Moreover, ProtoTaste will provide predictions for future experimental analyses, in particular at CERN, JLab and at a future Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), a new particle accelerator planned for construction at Brookhaven National Laboratory in the next decade.

The ProtoTaste project gathers three research groups (Pavia, Cagliari, Torino) that are at the forefront in the study of the 3D structure of the nucleon and have demonstrated durable strength in attracting international funds.

The ProtoTaste project will have an impact on our understanding of the fundamental constituents of matter and improve our ability to make predictions for processes involving nucleons, also to look for physics beyond the Standard Model. Strong connections with
the area of computational physics will be seeked.

The project will consolidate and extend the already strong Italian commitment to the study of the structure of the nucleon, especially in a critical stage of the development of the Electron-Ion Collider, the largest and most sophisticated new accelerator worldwide to be built in the next decade.