Nucleon structure functions, their medium modification and the polarized EMC effect.

Abstract

The central theme of this thesis is an investigation of the in-medium modifications to nucleon structure. The study focuses on the medium modifications to the three twist-two quark lightcone momentum distributions and associated structure functions. To achieve this, the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model was utilized, with the proper-time regularization scheme, in which confinement is simulated by eliminating unphysical thresholds for nucleon decay into quarks. The EMC effect was readily reproduced. However the main focus of this study was on a new ratio, referred to as the polarized EMC effect.