Twist corrections to exclusive vector meson production in a saturation framework

Abstract

We develop a framework combining the higher-twist formalism of exclusive processes in the $s$ channel with the semi-classical effective description of small-$x$ physics in the $t$ channel. We apply it to transversely polarized light vector meson production, $\gamma^{*} p \rightarrow V (\rho, \varphi ,\omega) \; p$, which starts at the next-to-leading power and for which a purely collinear treatment leads to end-point singularities. The result is obtained in the most general kinematics, including both forward and non-forward cases by preserving the full impact parameter dependence in the non-perturbative correlators, in both momentum and coordinate space representations. A systematic expansion of the Wilson lines in terms of Reggeized gluon fields is performed in order to obtain the results in the weak-field BFKL approximation. These new results will allow for investigating the dilute-to-dense regime transition of QCD for a wide class of observables.