The 3D entangled structure of the proton; transverse degrees of freedom in QCD, momenta, spins and more

Abstract

Light-front quantized quark and gluon states (partons) play a dominant role in high energy scattering processes. Initial state hadrons are mixed ensembles of partons, while produced pure partonic states appear as mixed ensembles of hadrons. The transition from collinear hard physics to the 3D structure including partonic transverse momenta is related to confinement which links color and spatial degrees of freedom. We outline ideas on emergent symmetries in the Standard Model and their connection to the 3D structure of hadrons. Wilson loops, including those with light-like Wilson lines such as used in the studies of transverse momentum dependent distribution functions (TMDs) may play a crucial role here, establishing a direct link between transverse spatial degrees of freedom and gluonic degrees of freedom.