Quark Transverse Spin-Momentum Correlation of the Pion from Lattice QCD: The Boer-Mulders Function

Abstract

We present the first lattice QCD calculation of the quark transverse spin-momentum correlation, i.e., the T-odd Boer-Mulders function, of the pion, using large-momentum effective theory (LaMET). The calculation is done at three lattice spacings $a=(0.098, 0.085, 0.064)$ fm and pion masses $\sim350$ MeV, with pion momenta up to $1.8$ GeV. The matrix elements are renormalized in a state-of-the-art scheme and extrapolated to the continuum and infinite momentum limit. We have implemented the perturbative matching up to the next-to-next-to-leading order and carried out a renormalization-group resummation. Our results provide valuable input for phenomenological analyses of the Boer-Mulders single-spin asymmetry.