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Beyond leading twist: ρ meson decay constants and distribution amplitudes in a self-consistent light-front quark model

Ahmad Jafar Arifi1,2,*, Ho-Meoyng Choi3,†, and Chueng-Ryong Ji4,‡

  • *Contact author: arifi.jafar@jaea.go.jp
  • †Contact author: homyoung@knu.ac.kr
  • ‡Contact author: ji@ncsu.edu
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Phys. Rev. D 112, 033009 – Published 21 August, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/hhk8-g2bj

Abstract

In this study, we present a comprehensive analysis of decay constants and chiral-even and chiral-odd distribution amplitudes (DAs) up to twist 4 for the ρ meson in the standard light-front quark model (LFQM) based on the Bakamjian-Thomas (BT) construction. For the ρ meson, which possesses both longitudinal (h=0) and transverse (h=±1) polarizations, two types of decay constants, fρ∥ and fρ⊥, arises accordingly. We demonstrate that these decay constants can be self-consistently extracted from both local (zμ=0) and nonlocal (zμ≠0) matrix elements ⟨0|q¯(z)Γq(−z)|ρ(P,h)⟩, with Γ=(γμ,σμν,γμγ5,1), in a manner independent of current components, polarizations, and reference frames. In particular, we emphasize the role of nonlocal matrix elements involving axial-vector and scalar currents, where mixing between fρ∥ and fρ⊥ occurs. We show that this mixing is consistently resolved through the BT construction, ensuring the proper extraction of these decay constants. Additionally, we investigate the structure of chiral-even DAs (ϕ2;V∥,ϕ3;V∥,ψ3;A⊥,ϕ4;V∥) and chiral-odd DAs (ϕ2;T⊥,ϕ3;T⊥,ψ3;S∥,ϕ4;T⊥) beyond leading twists, and present their corresponding ξ-moments and Gegenbauer moments. These results provide deeper insight into the nonperturbative structure of vector mesons and demonstrate the robustness and self-consistency of the LFQM based on the BT framework.

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Phys. Rev. D 112, 033009– Published 21 August, 2025
  • Received 4 June 2025
  • Accepted 26 July 2025
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