Vector meson dominance in photon structure functions at small $x$ from holography (2508.07791v1)

Abstract: We investigate the photon structure functions via the photon-photon and photon-vector meson scattering within the framework of holographic QCD, focusing on the small Bjorken $x$ region and assuming that the Pomeron exchange dominates. The quasi-real photon structure functions are formulated as the convolution of the known U(1) vector field wave function with the Brower-Polchinski-Strassler-Tan (BPST) Pomeron exchange kernel in the five-dimensional AdS space. Assuming the vector meson dominance, the photon structure functions can be calculated in a different way with the BPST kernel and vector meson gravitational form factor, which can be obtained in a bottom-up AdS/QCD model, for the Pomeron-vector meson coupling. It is shown that the obtained $F_2$ structure functions in the both ways agree with the experimental data, which implies the realization of the vector meson dominance within the present model setup. Calculations for the longitudinal structure function and the longitudinal-to-transverse ratio are also presented.