Global analysis of nuclear PDFs - latest developments

Abstract

In this review talk I discuss the latest developments in the DGLAP-based global analysis of nuclear parton distribution functions (nPDFs), focusing on the recent EPS09, nCTEQ and DSSZ global fits. I also briefly review the recent analysis for assigning a spatial dependence to the globally analysed nPDFs, resulting in the new sets EPS09s and EKS98s ("s" for spatial). With these, one can now compute nuclear hard-process cross sections and estimate their nPDF-originating uncertainties in different centrality classes for the first time consistently with the global nPDF fits.

Plenary review talk given in The 5th International Conference on Hard and Electromagnetic Probes of High Energy Nuclear Collisions (Hard Probes 2012), 27 May - 1 June, 2012, Cagliari, Italy. 8 pages, to appear in the Proc. of the meeting