Orbital Angular Momentum Distribution of Gluons at Small-$x$ : Analytic interpolation between Ji and Jaffe-Manohar

Abstract

We introduced a generalized Wilson line gauge link that reproduces both staple and near straight links in different limits. We then studied the gauge-invariant bi-local orbital angular momentum operator with such a general gauge link, in the framework of Chen et. al. decomposition of gauge fields. At the appropriate combination of limits, the operator reproduces both Jaffe-Manohar and Ji's operator structure and offers a continuous analytical interpolation between the two in the small-$x$ limit. We also studied the potential OAM which is defined as the difference between the two, and how it depends on the geometry or orientation of the gauge links