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Improved constraints on pion fragmentation functions from simulated electron-ion collider data

Maryam Soleymaninia1,2,*, Hamzeh Khanpour3,4,1,†, Majid Azizi1,‡, and Hadi Hashamipour5,§

  • *Contact author: Maryam_Soleymaninia@ipm.ir
  • †Contact author: Hamzeh.Khanpour@cern.ch
  • ‡Contact author: Ma.Azizi@ipm.ir
  • §Contact author: Hadi.Hashamipour@lnf.infn.it
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Phys. Rev. D 112, 054032 – Published 22 September, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/gm92-w63j

Abstract

We present a quantitative assessment of the anticipated impact of future Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) measurements on the extraction of parton-to-pion fragmentation functions (FFs). Our analysis combines simulated semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering (SIDIS) pseudo-data at EIC energies of 45 GeV and 140 GeV with existing single-inclusive electron-positron annihilation (SIA) and SIDIS experimental data. The pion fragmentation functions are determined at next-to-leading-order (NLO) accuracy using a perturbative quantum chromodynamics framework and a neural network parametrization. Uncertainties are rigorously estimated through Monte Carlo sampling, accounting for both experimental errors and variations in input parton distribution functions. Our results demonstrate that incorporating EIC pseudo-data reduces their uncertainties, especially at medium- to-large momentum fractions (z). This improvement is particularly pronounced for the gluon and selected quark FFs, highlighting the substantial role that EIC measurements will play in achieving high-precision extractions of FFs and informing future experimental and theoretical developments in collider physics.

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Phys. Rev. D 112, 054032– Published 22 September, 2025
  • Received 27 March 2025
  • Accepted 3 September 2025
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP3.

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