This project will study the structure of hadrons using first principles with a newly developed theoretical approach that allows us for the first time to achieve a complete 3D image of the hadron using the fundamental theory known as Quantum Chromodynamics. These studies employ Monte Carlo computations and are only possible with leadership class computing facilities.  

This work will provide essential theoretical support to the current (JLab 12 GeV) and future (Electron Ion Collider) experimental program in hadronic physics. Orginos’s project is essential in achieving the physics goals set forward in the recent Nuclear Physics Long Range plan. 

Leadership class computers are required in order to capitalize on configurations, generated by USQCD, that sample the QCD vacuum fluctuations, allowing researchers to determine the properties of hadrons from first principles. In this project, the team is employing state of the art methods, developed recently, that allow researchers to have a complete picture of the hadron for the first time. First, they will compute the distribution of momentum of the constituents of a hadron along the direction of its motion by determining the longitudinal momentum distribution functions. By studying the transverse momentum parton distribution functions, they will image the hadron in the transverse plane to its direction of motion. Therefore, they will achieve a full 3D imaging of the hadron. Finally, the same methodology will allow the team to study the distribution of angular momentum of the hadron among its constituents