On the non-perturbative part of the photon structure function

Abstract

We discuss a dispersion relation in the photon mass and show how (in principle) model-independent constraints on the parton distribution functions of the photon, notably a momentum sumrule, can be obtained. We present two sets of parametrizations, SaS~1 and~2, corresponding to two rather extreme realizations of the non-perturbative part. Inclusive electron scattering off a real photon is found to be insufficient to constrain the non-perturbative components. The additional sensitivity provided by the photon virtuality is outlined. Previous approaches to model the non-perturbative input distributions are commented upon.