What the study found
The study found that upcoming Electron Ion Collider (EIC) electron-proton scattering pseudodata may have a moderate, non-negligible impact on determining the strong coupling in a global fit, and a rather significant impact under more optimistic uncertainty assumptions. The authors also found that inconsistencies between the EIC pseudodata and the rest of the fit data can noticeably bias the extracted strong coupling value.
Why the authors say this matters
The authors conclude that these findings underline the promising potential for the EIC in determining the strong coupling, which is the parameter that sets the strength of the strong force in quantum chromodynamics. They also say the results highlight the importance of accounting for all sources of theoretical uncertainty and using an enlarged, conservative error definition.
What the researchers tested
The researchers studied the impact of EIC data within the global MSHT fitting framework, which is used to determine proton parton distribution functions (PDFs, the momentum distributions of quarks and gluons inside the proton) and the strong coupling simultaneously. They generated EIC electron-proton scattering pseudodata using both conservative and optimistic experimental uncertainty projections, and they also injected explicit inconsistencies into the pseudodata to test possible tensions with the rest of the global dataset.
What worked and what didn't
In the conservative case, the impact on strong coupling determination was moderate but non-negligible. In the optimistic case, the impact was rather significant. When explicit inconsistencies were introduced, the extracted strong coupling could become noticeably biased.
What to keep in mind
The study used pseudodata rather than real EIC measurements, so the results depend on the assumed uncertainty projections and on the specific inconsistencies injected in the tests. The abstract does not provide further limitations beyond the need to account for theoretical uncertainty and conservative error treatment.
Key points
- The study found that EIC electron-proton pseudodata could affect strong coupling determination in a global fit.
- The impact was moderate but non-negligible under conservative uncertainty assumptions and rather significant under optimistic ones.
- Injected inconsistencies between pseudodata and the rest of the fit could noticeably bias the extracted strong coupling.
- The authors say the results support the EIC's promise for strong coupling determination.
- The paper emphasizes conservative error treatment and accounting for theoretical uncertainty.
Disclosure
- Research title:
- EIC pseudodata could affect strong coupling estimates
- Authors:
- L. A. Harland-Lang, Thomas Cridge, P. Newman, R. S. Thorne, K. Wichmann
- Institutions:
- University College London, University of Antwerp, University of Manchester, University of Birmingham, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY
- Publication date:
- 2026-03-03
- OpenAlex record:
- View
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