Parton Distribution Functions in Minkowski space with Tensor Networks

by Manuel Schneider

Tuesday 20 May 2025, 15:00 → 17:00 Europe/Berlin

Parton distribution functions (PDFs) describe universal properties of hadrons
and provide insights into how elementary particles form bound states.
Calculating PDFs involves evaluating matrix elements with a Wilson line in a
light-cone direction. This poses significant challenges for Monte Carlo
methods in the Euclidean formulation of lattice gauge theory, where the time
direction cannot be directly accessed. In contrast, the PDF can, in principle,
be computed directly from light-front matrix elements in the Hamiltonian
formalism. We propose a strategy to evaluate light-cone observables in
Minkowski space. The approach is tested in the Schwinger model with tensor
network methods. We present PDFs for several fermion masses, with controlled
systematic errors.