Evolution of unpolarized transverse momentum dependent parton distributions of twist-3

Abstract

We revisit the calculation of the evolution equations for four unpolarized twist-3 transverse momentum dependent (TMD) parton distribution functions (PDFs) at $\mathcal {O}(\alpha_s)$. Unlike the existing calculations in the literature, which are based on the background field method, we derive the evolution equations directly through diagram expansion. Additionally, instead of using the $\delta$ regulator, we employ the exponential regulator to regularize the rapidity divergences. We find that the evolutions of the four twist-3 TMD PDFs are governed by eight homogeneous equations. Our evolution kernels agree with one set of results in the literature, but differ from another by a sign. Thus, our results help clarify the discrepancies between the evolution kernels reported in the literature. Moreover, considering the advantages of the exponential regulator in high-order perturbative calculations, our results are crucial for computing the twist-3 TMD PDFs at $\mathcal {O}(\alpha_s^2)$.