Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2010 / iii / Paper 45 / 4 / Solution

Use an incoming spacelike momentum transfer $q$, so the physical absorption process has $p_X=P+q$, $Q^2=-q^2>0$, and $P\cdot q>0$. There is a sign inconsistency in the original PDF: its delta function has $P-p_X-q$, while its positive Bjorken x definition and target formulas use incoming $q$. With that literal delta function and $x>0$, the final-state invariant would bewhich becomes negative in the stated high-energy limit and cannot represent a physical hadronic final state. We therefore use ${\delta }^4(P+q-p_X)$, preserving the printed $x=Q^2/(2P\cdot q)$ and structure-function conventions. Equivalently, keeping an outgoing momentum variable requires reversing the signs in those definitions as well.

Assume an unpolarized target, incoherent scattering from effectively free spin-one-half partons, and the massless collinear parton approximation. In the Bjorken scaling limit, take $Q^2,P\cdot q\to \infty$ at fixed $0<x<1$, neglecting target and quark masses and intrinsic transverse momentum relative to $Q$. Write the incoming struck-quark momentum as $k=\xi P$ in the leading lightlike-reference approximation. Let $f_f(\xi )$ and ${\bar{f}}_f(\xi )$ be quark and antiquark parton distribution functions, counting all colours. For the naive scaling result also neglect radiative scaling violations; in full QCD these distributions depend logarithmically on the hard scale.

The outgoing struck quark has momentum $k^{\prime }=k+q$. Its on-shell condition givesAverage its initial spin and sum its final spin. The spin-averaged electromagnetic parton tensor has numeratorThe supplied three-gamma identity gives this directly: contract its middle index with $(k+q{)}_{\lambda }$ and trace with $/k$; the ${\gamma }_5$ trace vanishes. Thus no antisymmetric term survives the unpolarized spin average.

Define transverse tensorsOn the cut, $2k\cdot q=Q^2$, so $\tilde{k}=k+q/2=\xi \tilde{P}$. Expanding the two transverse terms givesThis also explicitly verifies electromagnetic current conservation, $q_{\mu }{S}^{\mu \nu }=q_{\nu }{S}^{\mu \nu }=0$.

The one-particle final-state Lorentz-invariant phase-space measure obeysIncluding the current's charge factor and the given $1/(4\pi )$ normalization, a single quark therefore contributesAn antiquark has the same unpolarized tensor and the same squared charge $Q_f^2$.

The parton convolution normalization for a hadronic tensor isThe $1/\xi$ is important: the distributions count parton numbers, whereas covariantly normalized one-particle responses carry the state normalization $2k^0$. The incoherent sum of normalized responses is $W/(2P^0)={\sum }_f\int d\xi (f_f+{\bar{f}}_f)w_f/(2k^0)$; in the collinear frame $k^0=\xi P^0$, giving the factor above. There is no extra colour multiplicity because it is already included in the distributions.

On the physical cut,Comparing the two transverse coefficients in the hadronic tensor gives, with $n_f=f_f+{\bar{f}}_f$,Therefore the requested deep-inelastic structure functions areThe notation $f_f$ here is the question's $f$ with its flavour index made explicit. The calculation proves the Callan-Gross relation, $F_2=2x{F}_1$, rather than merely citing it. Finite masses and radiative corrections modify this leading approximation; at leading QCD order the same formulas use scale-dependent parton distribution functions.

The quark number sum rule follows because a distribution is a number density. Integrating $f_f$ counts quarks and integrating ${\bar{f}}_f$ counts antiquarks; their difference is the net conserved flavour charge:Every sea quark-antiquark pair contributes zero to this difference. More formally the flavour-vector charge counts quarks minus antiquarks and has a fixed eigenvalue on the hadron state. Thus $N_f$ is the valence or net quark number, not the total number including the sea.

Use both final assumptions printed in the question: only up/down flavours and no antiquarks. The second does not follow just from restricting the flavour list. Then $\int f_u=N_u$, $\int f_d=N_d$, with squared charges $Q_u^2=4/9$ and $Q_d^2=1/9$. The proton has $(N_u,N_d)=(2,1)$ and the neutron $(1,2)$. Hence the valence-only proton and neutron structure-function moments areThe integral limits assume the scaling approximation is valid for the indicated weighted moments, for example by dominated convergence of the weighted integrands. The same net-quark sum rule alone would not fix these individual moments in the presence of antiquarks, since $F_2$ involves the sum of quark and antiquark distributions.