Parton Distributions in Nuclei: Overview and Prospect

Abstract

We give a brief overview of nuclear parton distributions. First, the EMC effect is discussed together with possible interpretations such as nuclear binding and $Q^2$ rescaling. Next, we explain shadowing descriptions: vector-meson-dominance-type and parton-recombination models. Nuclear dependence of $Q^2$ evolution should be interesting in testing whether or not DGLAP equations could be applied to nuclear structure functions. Status of nuclear sea-quark and gluon distributions is discussed. The structure function $b_1$, which will be measured at HERMES and possibly at ELFE, could shed light on a new aspect of high-energy spin physics.