2026/07/16 by Yu Jia, Bernard Pire, Qin-Tao Song +2
#hep-ph #hep-ex #hep-lat #nucl-th
The high-energy pion and kaon beams proposed for future experiments at J-PARC offer a unique opportunity to investigate exclusive Drell-Yan processes induced by pions or kaons, which correspond to inverse deeply virtual meson production with M=π,K. To facilitate precise comparisons between theoretical predictions and forthcoming experimental data, we calculate the next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) QCD corrections to the processes π- p→ γ^*(→ l+l-) + n and K- p→ γ^*(→ l+l-) + Λ. Our calculations are performed within the generalized parton distribution (GPD) factorization framework, accurate to leading twist in the generalized Bjorken limit (Q2≫ |t|, Λ\rm QCD2). We find that the NNLO QCD corrections are substantial and positive; therefore, their inclusion is imperative for reliable theoretical predictions in confrontation with future experiments.