Polarized Parton Distributions in Light-Front Dynamics

Abstract

We present a consistent calculation of the structure functions within a light-front constituent quark model of the nucleon. Relativistic effects and the relevance of the covariance constraints are analyzed for polarized parton distributions. Various models, which differ in their gluonic structure at the hadronic scale, are investigated. The results of the full covariant calculation are compared with those of a non-relativistic approximation to show the structure and magnitude of the differences. It is also shown how measurements of transversity in doubly polarized Drell-Yan lepton pair production are a clearcut sign of covariance requirements for the spin.