Three-gluon contribution to the single spin asymmetry in Drell-Yan and direct-photon processes

We derive the single-spin-dependent cross section for the Drell-Yan lepton-pair production and the direct-photon production in the $pp$-collision induced by the twist-3 three-gluon correlation functions in the transversely polarized nucleon in the leading order with respect to the QCD coupling constant. Combined with the contribution from the twist-3 quark-gluon correlation functions in the literature, this completes the twist-3 cross section for these processes. We also present a model calculation of the asymmetry for the direct photon production at the RHIC energy, demonstrating the sensitivity of the asymmetry to the form of the three-gluon correlation functions. In particular, we show that the asymmetry in the backward direction of the polarized nucleon is determined by the small-$x$ behavior of the correlation functions.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figure

Master Formula for the Three-Gluon Contribution to Single Spin Asymmetry in Semi-Inclusive Deep Inelastic Scattering

We derive a "master formula" for the contribution of the three-gluon correlation function in the nucleon to the twist-3 single-spin-dependent cross section for semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering, ep^\uparrow\to eDX. This is an extension of the similar formula known for the so-called soft-gluon-pole contribution induced by the quark-gluon correlation function in a variety of processes. Our master formula reduces the relevant interfering partonic subprocess with the participation of the three gluons to the Born cross sections for the \gamma^*g\to c\bar{c} scattering, which reveals the new structure behind the twist-3 single spin asymmetry and simplifies the actual calculation greatly. A possible extension to higher order corrections is also discussed.Comment: 23 pages, 4 figures. Final version to appear in Phys. Rev. D. Presentation changed slightl

QCD evolution of naive-time-reversal-odd fragmentation functions

We study QCD evolution equations of the first transverse-momentum-moment of the naive-time-reversal-odd fragmentation functions - the Collins function and the polarizing fragmentation function. We find for the Collins function case that the evolution kernel has a diagonal piece same as that for the transversity fragmentation function, while for the polarizing fragmentation function case this piece is the same as that for the unpolarized fragmentation function. Our results might have important implications in the current global analysis of spin asymmetries.Comment: 8 pages,4 figure

Contribution of Twist-3 Multi-Gluon Correlation Functions to Single Spin Asymmetry in Semi-Inclusive Deep Inelastic Scattering

As a possible source of the single transverse spin asymmetry, we study the contribution from purely gluonic correlation represented by the twist-3 ``three-gluon correlation" functions in the transversely polarized nucleon. We first define a complete set of the relevant three-gluon correlation functions, and then derive its contribution to the twist-3 single-spin-dependent cross section for the $D$-meson production in semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering, which is relevant to determine the three-gluon correlations. Our cross-section formula differs from the corresponding result in the literature, and the origin of the discrepancy is clarified.Comment: 29 pages, 3 figures minor corrections; version to appear in Phys. Rev.

Quark-gluon correlation functions relevant to single transverse spin asymmetries

We investigate the relative size of various twist-3 quark-gluon correlation functions relevant to single transverse spin asymmetries (SSAs) in a quark-diquark model of the nucleon. We calculate the quark-gluon correlation function $T_{q,F}(x, x)$ that is responsible for the gluonic pole contribution to the SSAs, as well as $T_{q,F}(0, x)$ and $T_{\Delta{q}, F}(0, x)$ responsible for the fermionic pole contributions. We find in both cases of a scalar diquark and an axial-vector diquark that at the first nontrivial order only the \tq(x, x) is finite while all other quark-gluon correlation functions vanish. Using the same model, we evaluate quark Sivers function and discuss its relation to the \tq(x, x). We also discuss the implication of our finding to the phenomenological studies of the SSAs.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

Collinear Factorization for Single Transverse-Spin Asymmetry in Drell-Yan Processes

We study the scattering of a single parton state with a multi-parton state to derive the complete results of perturbative coefficient functions at leading order, which appear in the collinear factorization for Single transverse-Spin Asymmetry(SSA) in Drell-Yan processes with a transversely polarized hadron in the initial state. We find that the factorization formula of SSA contains hard-pole-, soft-quark-pole- and soft-gluon-pole contributions. It is interesting to note that the leading order perturbative coefficient functions of soft-quark-pole- and soft-gluon-pole contributions are extracted from parton scattering amplitudes at one-loop, while the functions of hard-pole contributions are extracted from the tree level amplitudes at tree-level. Our method to derive the factorization of SSA is different than the existing one in literature. A comparison of our results with those obtained by other method is made.Comment: 27 pages, 14 figures, text improved, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Accessing tri-gluon correlations in the nucleon via the single spin asymmetry in open charm production

We calculate the single transverse-spin asymmetry for open charm production in $pp$ collisions within the QCD collinear factorization approach. We include contributions from both twist-three quark-gluon and tri-gluon correlation functions. We find that the quark-gluon correlation functions alone generate only a very small asymmetry for open charm production in the kinematic region of current interest at RHIC, so that the observation of any significant single-spin asymmetry would be a clear indication of the presence of tri-gluon correlations inside a polarized proton. We furthermore demonstrate that the tri-gluon contribution could be very different for the production of $D$ and $\bar{D}$ mesons. These features make the single spin asymmetry in open charm production in polarized $pp$ collisions at RHIC an excellent probe of tri-gluon correlation functions.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure