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First Simultaneous Analysis of Transverse Momentum Dependent and Collinear Parton Distributions in the Proton

P. C. Barry1,*,†, A. Prokudin2,3,‡, T. Anderson3,4, C. Cocuzza4, L. Gamberg2, W. Melnitchouk3, E. Moffat1, D. Pitonyak5, J.-W. Qiu3,4 et al. (JAM Collaboration (TMD Analysis Group)

J.-W. Qiu3,4, N. Sato3, A. Vladimirov6, and R. M. Whitehill7 (JAM Collaboration (TMD Analysis Group)

  • *Present address: Jefferson Lab, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA.
  • †Contact author: barryp@jlab.org
  • ‡Contact author: prokudin@jlab.org
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 171902 – Published 21 October, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/m23z-bt9y

Abstract

We present the first simultaneous global QCD analysis of unpolarized transverse momentum dependent (TMD) and collinear parton distribution functions (PDFs) in the proton. Our Letter incorporates data from deep-inelastic scattering, Drell-Yan, inclusive weak boson, W+ charm, and jet production involving PDFs, as well as TMD Drell-Yan and Z-boson production data from fixed target and collider experiments sensitive to both TMD and collinear distributions. The analysis is performed at next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy for QCD resummation in TMD observables and next-to-leading order for observables described in collinear factorization. The combined analysis improves knowledge of both TMD and collinear PDFs, particularly in the sea-quark sector, providing a consistent simultaneous description of the aforementioned observables.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 171902– Published 21 October, 2026
  • Received 30 October 2025
  • Revised 17 August 2026
  • Accepted 11 September 2026
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