Challenges with large transverse momentum in semi-inclusive deeply inelastic scattering

Abstract

We survey the current phenomenological status of semi-inclusive deeply inelastic scattering at moderate hard scales and in the limit of very large transverse momentum. As the transverse momentum becomes comparable to or larger than the overall hard scale, the differential cross sections should be calculable with fixed order perturbative QCD (pQCD) methods, while small transverse momentum (transverse-momentum-dependent factorization) approximations should eventually break down. We find large disagreement between HERMES and COMPASS data and fixed order calculations done with modern parton densities, even in regions of kinematics where such calculations should be expected to be very accurate. Possible interpretations are suggested.