The Kinetic Interpretation of the DGLAP Equation, its Kramers-Moyal Expansion and Positivity of Helicity Distributions

Abstract

According to a rederivation - due to Collins and Qiu - the DGLAP equation can be reinterpreted (in leading order) in a probabilistic way. This form of the equation has been used indirectly to prove the bound $|Δf(x,Q)| < f(x,Q)$ between polarized and unpolarized distributions, or positivity of the helicity distributions, for any $Q$. We reanalize this issue by performing a detailed numerical study of the positivity bounds of the helicity distributions. To obtain the numerical solution we implement an x-space based algorithm for polarized and unpolarized distributions to next-to-leading order in $α_s$, which we illustrate. We also elaborate on some of the formal properties of the Collins-Qiu form and comment on the underlying regularization, introduce a Kramers-Moyal expansion of the equation and briefly analize its Fokker-Planck approximation. These follow quite naturally once the master version is given. We illustrate this expansion both for the valence quark distribution $q_V$ and for the transverse spin distribution $h_1$.

38 pages, 27 figures, Dedicated to Prof. Pierre Ramond for his 60th birthday