Transverse momentum of partons: from low to high pT

Abstract

Transverse-momentum spectra in hard processes are typically described either in terms of intrinsic transverse momentum of partons, or in terms of perturbative radiation. The relation between these descriptions is discussed for the example of semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering, with special focus on the angular distribution of the observed hadron. This involves nontrivial theoretical issues, such as the proper definition of transverse-momentum dependent parton distributions, and has practical consequences for the description of pT spectra in phenomenology.