Target mass and finite momentum transfer corrections to unpolarized and polarized diffractive scattering Original Research Article

A quantum field theoretic treatment of inclusive deep-inelastic diffractive scattering is given. The process can be described in the general framework of non-forward scattering processes using the light-cone expansion in the generalized Bjorken region. Target mass and finite t corrections of the diffractive hadronic tensor are derived at the level of the twist-2 contributions both for the unpolarized and the polarized case. They modify the expressions contributing in the limit t, image for larger values of β or/and t in the region of low image. The different diffractive structure functions are expressed through integrals over the relative momentum of non-perturbative t-dependent 2-particle distribution functions. In the limit t, image these distribution functions are the diffractive parton distribution. Relations between the different diffractive structure functions are derived.