Nucleon quark distributions in a covariant quark-diquark model

Spin-dependent and spin-independent quark light-cone momentum distributions and structure functions are calculated for the nucleon. We utilize a modified Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model in which confinement is simulated by eliminating unphysical thresholds for nucleon decay into quarks. The nucleon bound state is obtained by solving the Faddeev equation in the quark-diquark approximation, where both scalar and axial-vector diquark channels are included. We find excellent agreement between our model results and empirical data.