Leading twist moments of the neutron structure function

We perform a global analysis of neutron structure function data, obtained by combining proton and deuteron measurements over a large range of kinematics. From these data the lowest moments (n⩽10) of the leading twist neutron structure function are extracted. Particular attention is paid to nuclear effects in the deuteron, which become increasingly important for the higher moments. Our results for the nonsinglet, isovector p–n combination of the leading twist moments are used to test recent lattice simulations. We also determine the lowest few moments of the higher twist contributions, and find these to be approximately isospin-independent, suggesting the possible dominance of ud correlations over uu and dd in the nucleon.