From conformal symmetries and integrability to the Electron-Ion Collider

Introduction

The primary goal of this research proposal is to lay the foundations for precision predictions for the physics program in deep-inelastic scattering (DIS) at the Electron-Ion-Collider (EIC). The commissioning of the EIC will open a new era in the exploration of strong interaction physics and hadron structure at an unprecedented level of detail.

Objectives

This is expected to lead, among other results, to the clarification of the proton spin puzzle. The crucial ingredient for the success of this undertaking is the ability to confront experimental data with precise predictions for those benchmark processes, which will form a core part of the EIC physics program:

1. Inclusive lepton-hadron DIS, including polarized beams
2. DIS charm- or bottom-quark production
3. Deeply-virtual Compton scattering in off-forward kinematics

Methodology

Capitalizing on recent theoretical advances, driven to a significant extent by the work of the PI, this proposal outlines a challenging and ambitious program to advance quantum chromodynamics (QCD) perturbation theory in order to achieve a theoretical description of the key observables at the EIC at percent level precision.

The proposal puts forward a novel research methodology based on the systematic use of conformal symmetry and integrability, as realized in gauge theories with extended supersymmetry, such as the N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills (SYM) theory, to reveal structural information on QCD results.

Significance

Observables in lepton-hadron DIS are particularly well suited to turn the connections between N=4 SYM theory and QCD into a powerful computational tool, which leads to significant simplifications due to the hidden symmetries underlying integrable systems.

Progress in this direction will open new avenues for research and will establish new bridges between the scientific communities in phenomenology and mathematical physics. The new QCD results will be used in the course of the project to explore precision phenomenology at the EIC.