Target mass corrections to parity-violating DIS

Abstract

We examine the implications of several parameterizations of so-called target mass corrections (TMCs) for the physics of parity-violating deeply inelastic scattering (DIS), especially at high values of the momentum fraction x. We consider the role played by perturbative corrections in alpha_S in modifying TMCs; we explicitly calculate these corrections at both the level of the individual electroweak structure function (SF), as well as in the observables of parity-violating DIS. TMCs augment an inventory of previously studied corrections that become sizable at low Q^2 (finite-Q^2 corrections), and we give special attention to the effects that might lead to the violation of the approximate equality R^{gamma Z} = R^{gamma}.