Dispersive determination of nucleon gravitational form factors

Xiong-Hui Cao, Feng-Kun Guo (), Qu-Zhi Li and Yao De-Liang ()
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Xiong-Hui Cao: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Feng-Kun Guo: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Qu-Zhi Li: Sichuan University
Yao De-Liang: Hunan University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Being closely connected to the origin of the nucleon mass, the gravitational form factors of the nucleon have attracted significant attention in recent years. We present the first model-independent determinations of the gravitational form factors of the pion and nucleon at the physical pion mass, using a data-driven dispersive approach. The so-called “last global unknown property” of the nucleon, the D-term, is determined to be $$-3.3{8}_{-0.35}^{+0.34}$$ − 3.3 8 − 0.35 + 0.34 . The root mean square radius of the scalar trace density inside the nucleon is determined to be (0.97 ± 0.03)fm. Notably, this value is larger than the proton charge radius, suggesting a modern structural view of the nucleon where gluons, responsible for most of the nucleon mass, are distributed over a larger spatial region than quarks, which dominate the charge distribution, indicating that the radius of the trace density may be regarded as a confinement radius. We also predict the nucleon angular momentum and mechanical radii, providing further insights into the intricate internal structure of the nucleon.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-62278-9

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