Pion-photon transition form factor. Living on the QCD frontier

An analysis of all available data (CELLO, CLEO, \babar) in the range $[1\div 40]$GeV$^2$ for the pion-photon transition form factor in terms of light-cone sum rules with next-to-leading-order accuracy is discussed, including twist-four contributions and next-to-next-to-leading order and twist-six corrections—the latter two via uncertainties. The antithetic trend between the \babar data for the ${\gamma }^{\ast }\gamma {\pi }^0$ and those for the ${\gamma }^{\ast }\gamma \eta ({\eta }^{\mathrm{\prime }})$ transition is pointed out, emphasizing the underlying antagonistic mechanisms: endpoint enhancement for the first and endpoint-suppression for the second—each associated with pseudoscalar meson distribution amplitudes with distinct endpoint characteristics.