A model for the pion structure function

The pion structure function is investigated in a simple model, where pion and constituent quark fields are coupled through the simplest pseudoscalar coupling. The imaginary part of the forward gamma*pi --> gamma*pi evaluated and related to the structure functions. It is shown that the introduction of non-perturbative effects linked to the size of the pion and preserving gauge invariance, allows a connection with the quark distribution. It is predicted that higher-twist terms become negligible for Q(2) larger than similar to 2 GeV2 and that quarks in the pion have a momentum fraction smaller than in the proton case. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.