https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/s10050-025-01672-9
Regular Article - Theoretical Physics
Distribution functions of 
and 
baryons
1
School of Physics, Nanjing University, 210093, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
2
Institute for Nonperturbative Physics, Nanjing University, 210093, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
3
Department of Physics, Anhui Normal University, 24100, Wuhu, Anhui, China
4
European Centre for Theoretical Studies in Nuclear Physics and Related Areas, ECT*, Villa Tambosi, Strada delle Tabarelle 286, 38123, Villazzano, TN, Italy
Received:
16
May
2025
Accepted:
21
August
2025
Published online:
12
September
2025
Treating baryons as quark + interacting-diquark bound states, a symmetry-preserving formulation of a vector
vector contact interaction (SCI) is used to deliver an extensive, coherent set of predictions for 
baryon unpolarised and polarised distribution functions (DFs) – valence, glue, and four-flavour separated sea – and compare them with those of a like-structured nucleon. baryons are strangeness negative-one isospin partners within the SU(3)-flavour baryon octet. This makes such structural comparisons significant. The study reveals impacts of diquark correlations and SU(3)-flavour symmetry breaking on , structure functions, some of which are significant. For instance, were it not for the presence of axialvector diquarks in the at the hadron scale, the s quark could carry none of the spin. The discussion canvasses issues that include helicity retention in hard scattering processes; the sign and size of polarised gluon DFs; and the origin and decomposition of baryon spins. Interpreted judiciously, the SCI analysis delivers an insightful explanation of baryon structure as expressed in DFs.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
