Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Higher twists in deep-inelastic scattering (DIS) and related hard scattering processes provide a unique window on nonperturbative QCD dynamics, encoding quark-gluon correlations and multiparton interactions beyond the leading-twist parton model. We present an overview of the theoretical foundations of higher twists in QCD, based on the operator product expansion, and discuss their intimate connection with quark-hadron duality in the transition between the resonance and scaling regimes. We review the phenomenology of higher-twist effects in unpolarized and polarized DIS, emphasizing their extraction from precision data through modern global QCD analyses that simultaneously determine both leading-twist parton distribution functions and higher-twist contributions. Finally, we discuss recent developments in the study of higher twists in semi-inclusive and exclusive reactions, and conclude by highlighting future opportunities to study QCD dynamics beyond leading twist at Jefferson Lab and the Electron-Ion Collider that promise to deepen our understanding of hadron structure.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Author: Melnitchouk, W.
Institution: Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: G2562462929, G4531151473
OpenAlex ID: W7213584133
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