Pion parton distribution functions and pion-nucleus induced $J\mathrm{/}\psi$ production in extended light-front holographic QCD

We determine the pion parton distribution functions (PDFs) from its light-front wave functions, obtained using the holographic Schrödinger equation of light-front chiral QCD combined with the 't Hooft equation in (1+1)-dimensional QCD at large $N_c$. We analyze the large-$x$ behavior of the valence PDF, $\sim (1-x{)}^{{\beta }_v^{\mathrm{e}\mathrm{f}\mathrm{f}}}$, finding overall consistency with global analyses. These pion PDFs, together with nuclear PDFs, are then used to compute the differential cross sections up to next-to-leading order for inclusive $J\mathrm{/}\psi$ production in pion–nucleus collisions, which show good agreement with experimental data across different energies and nuclear targets.