Spin-Orbit Correlations in the Pion and the Role of Quark-gluon Interaction

Abstract: We study the spin-orbit correlations (SOCs) of the pion using overlap of light-front wave functions (LFWFs). Going beyond the leading Fock sector, we incorporate one gluon in the wave function. The analytic form of the higher Fock component of the LFWF is constructed by incorporating a perturbative gluon to the pion state. This allows us to explore the role of quark-gluon interactions in the spin-orbit correlation within a model calculation. We investigate the kinetic and canonical spin-orbit correlations of quarks in the pion, which arise from different decompositions of the energy-momentum tensor. We further explore the difference between kinetic and canonical SOC arising from the inclusion of higher Fock sector containing gluon.