Backward DVCS in a Sullivan process

Mesons’ internal structure and dynamics may be accessed through hard exclusive electroproduction processes such as deeply virtual Compton scattering in both near forward and near backward kinematics. With the help of the Sullivan process, which allows us to use a nucleon target as a quasireal 𝜋 meson emitter, we study backward scattering in the framework of collinear QCD factorization where pion-to-photon transition distribution amplitudes describe the photon content of the 𝜋 meson. We present a model of these transition distribution amplitudes based on the overlap of light-front wave functions primarily developed for generalized parton distributions, using a previously computed pion light-front wave function and deriving a new model for the light-front wave functions of the photon. This leads us to an estimate of the cross sections for JLab energies. We conclude that deeply virtual 𝑒⁢𝑝 →𝑒⁢𝛾⁢𝑀⁢𝑛 processes, in backward kinematics, may be experimentally discovered in the near future.