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  • Open Access

Nucleon Tomography with Zero Jettiness

Shen Fang1,*, Shuo Lin2,†, Ding Yu Shao1,3,‡, and Jian Zhou2,4,§

  • 1Department of Physics, Center for Field Theory and Particle Physics, Key Laboratory of Nuclear Physics and Ion-beam Application (MOE), Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
  • 2Key Laboratory of Particle Physics and Particle Irradiation (MOE), Institute of Frontier and Interdisciplinary Science, Shandong University, (Qingdao), Shandong 266237, China
  • 3Shanghai Research Center for Theoretical Nuclear Physics, NSFC and Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China
  • 4Southern Center for Nuclear-Science Theory (SCNT), Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Huizhou, Guangdong 516000, China

  • *Contact author: sfang23@m.fudan.edu.cn
  • †Contact author: shuolin@sdu.edu.cn
  • ‡Contact author: dingyu.shao@cern.ch
  • §Contact author: jzhou@sdu.edu.cn
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 021901 – Published 14 January, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/rvgc-sgv7

Abstract

We propose a novel strategy to systematically isolate the nucleon’s intrinsic nonperturbative three-dimensional structure by employing zero jettiness to suppress initial-state radiation in transverse-momentum-dependent observables. Applying this method to transverse single spin asymmetries (SSAs) in W± and Z0 boson production at Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), we demonstrate a substantial enhancement of the asymmetry signal (e.g., by 115% for W− SSA at q⊥=5  GeV). We show that this enhancement yields a substantial net gain in experimental sensitivity—even after accounting for the statistical cost of the veto—facilitating a more definitive test of the predicted Sivers function sign change. We further explore its applicability to spin-dependent measurements at the Electron-Ion Collider. Our analysis is formulated within a joint resummation framework that systematically resums large logarithms associated with both the veto scale and the gauge boson’s transverse momentum.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 021901– Published 14 January, 2026
  • Received 27 June 2025
  • Revised 17 November 2025
  • Accepted 8 December 2025
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