Pion Generalized Parton Distributions with covariant and Light-front constituent quark models

We investigate the model dependence of no-helicity flip generalized parton distribution of the pion upon different approaches for the quark-hadron and quark-photon vertices, in the spacelike region. In order to obtain information on contributions from both the valence and the nonvalence regions, we compare results for spacelike momentum transfers obtained from (i) an analytic covariant model with a bare quark-photon vertex, (ii) a light-front approach with a quark-photon vertex dressed through a microscopic vector-meson model, and (iii) a light-front approach based on the relativistic Hamiltonian dynamics. Our comparisons lead us to infer the same dynamical mechanism, the one-gluon-exchange dominance at short distances, as a source of both the electromagnetic form factor at large momentum transfer and the parton distribution close to the end points. The expected collinear behavior of the generalized parton distributions at high-momentum transfer, i.e. a maximum for x∼1, is also illustrated, independently of the different approaches. Finally, a comparison with recent lattice calculations of the gravitational form factors is presented.