Resonant contributions to polarized proton structure functions

Abstract

Nucleon resonance contributions to the polarized proton $g_1$ and $g_2$ structure functions are computed from resonance electroexcitation amplitudes extracted from CLAS exclusive meson electroproduction data. Including resonances in the mass range up to 1.75 GeV, and taking into account the interference between excited states, we compare the resonant contributions with the polarized proton structure function and polarization asymmetry data from Jefferson Lab 6 GeV measurements. All resonance-like structure observed in the polarized structure functions and asymmetries can be attributed to the resonant contributions, confirming their essential role in the behavior of $g_1$ and $g_2$ in the resonant region over the entire range $Q^2 < 7.5$ GeV$^2$ covered by the measurements. Comparing the resonance contributions with the $g_1$ and $g_2$ structure functions computed from parton distribution functions extrapolated from the deep-inelastic region, we also quantify the degree to which quark-hadron duality holds for $g_1$ and $g_2$ and their moments.