Drell-Yan physics at COMPASS

Peer Reviewe

Polarized Drell-Yan studies at COMPASS

Peer Reviewe

Feasibility Studies for Single Transverse-Spin Asymmetry Measurements at a Fixed-Target Experiment Using the LHC Proton and Lead Beams (AFTER@LHC)

The measurement of Single Transverse-Spin Asymmetries, $A_N$ , for various quarkonium states and Drell–Yan lepton pairs can shed light on the orbital angular momentum of quarks and gluons, a fundamental ingredient of the proton-spin puzzle. The AFTER@LHC proposal combines a unique kinematic coverage and large luminosities thanks to the Large Hadron Collider beams to deliver precise measurements, complementary to the knowledge provided by collider experiments such as at RHIC. In this paper, we report on sensitivity studies for $J/\psi$ , $\varUpsilon$ and Drell–Yan $A_N$ done using the performance of LHCb-like or ALICE-like detectors, combined with polarised gaseous hydrogen and helium-3 targets. In particular, such analyses will provide us with new insights and knowledge about transverse-momentum-dependent parton distribution functions for quarks and gluons and on twist-3 collinear matrix elements in the proton and the neutron.Peer Reviewe

RF-Separated Beam Project for the M2 Beam Line at CERN

Within the framework of the Physics Beyond Colliders initiative at CERN, discussions are underway on the feasibility of producing radio-frequency (RF) separated beams for Phase-2 of the AMBER experiment at the M2 beam line in the North experimental area of the CERN SPS. The technique of RF separation is applied to enrich the content of a certain particle type within a beam consisting of different species at the same momentum. It relies on the fact that each particle type has a different velocity, decreasing with rest mass. The successor of the COMPASS experiment, AMBER, requires for its Phase-2 measurements high-intensity, high-purity kaon (and antiproton) beams, which cannot be delivered with the currently existing conventional M2 beam line. The present contribution introduces the principle of RF separation and explains its dependence on different parameters of beam optics and hardware. The first examination of potential showstoppers for the RF-separated beam implementation is presented, based on the particle production rates, beam line transmission for specific optics settings, limitations for overall beam intensity and purity posed by beam line acceptance and radiation protection. Different beam optics settings have been examined, providing either focused or parallel beams inside the RF cavities. The separation and transmission capability of the different optics settings for realistic characteristics of RF cavities are discussed and the preliminary results of the potential purity and intensity of the RF-separated beam are presented. They illustrate the high importance of an RF-separated kaon beam for many of the AMBER Phase-2 data taking programs, such as spectroscopy, prompt-photon production, Primakoff reactions and kaon charge-radius measurement

Collins and Sivers asymmetries in muonproduction of pions and kaons off transversely polarised protons

Measurements of the Collins and Sivers asymmetries for charged pions and charged and neutral kaons produced in semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering of high energy muons off transversely polarised protons are presented. The results were obtained using all the available COMPASS proton data, which were taken in the years 2007 and 2010. The Collins asymmetries exhibit in the valence region a non-zero signal for pions and there are hints of non-zero signal also for kaons. The Sivers asymmetries are found to be positive for positive pions and kaons and compatible with zero otherwise. © 2015

Polarized Drell-Yan studies at COMPASS

The COMPASS experiment at CERN will soon start a new series of measurements using a pion beam and a transversely polarized target. The study of the polarized Drell-Yan process will provide an insight of the transverse momentum dependent parton distribution functions (TMDs), which is complementary to their extraction from semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering (SIDIS), previously measured in COMPASS. The sign change of Sivers and Boer-Mulders TMDs, when accessed from SIDIS or Drell-Yan, is predicted by theory. Its experimental observation is considered an essential test of the TMD approach. The experimental aspects of the Drell-Yan measurement in COMPASS are discussed. The set-up optimization, driven by the results of several beam tests are presented, as well as the expected event rates and statistical errors of the azimuthal asymmetries

Recent COMPASS results on the gluon polarization

The spin structure of the nucleon is studied in the COMPASS experiment at CERN/SPS, from the collisions of 160 GeV polarized muon beam with a $^{6}$LiD target. The data collected from 2002 to 2006 provide an accurate measurement of longitudinal double spin cross-section asymmetries. The latest results on the gluon polarization, accessed from two independent analyses of photon-gluon fusion selected events, are presented. The study of the open-charm production allows to extract the gluon polarization (in LO QCD) from the measurement of the asymmetry, the value obtained being $\Delta g/g = -$ 0.49 $\pm$ 0.27($stat$) $\pm$ 0.11($syst$), at an average $x_{g} =$ 0.11$^{+0.11}_{-0.05}$ and a scale $\langle\mu^{2}\rangle =$ 13 (GeV/c)$^{2}$. An alternative and independent way to study the gluon polarization, by studying the high transverse momentum hadron pairs produced, leads to a value $\Delta g/g =$ 0.08 $\pm$ 0.10($stat$) $\pm$ 0.05($syst$), at $x^{av}_{g} =$ 0.082$^{+0.041}_{-0.027}$ and $\langle\mu^{2}\rangle =$ 3 (GeV/c)$^{2}$

Recent COMPASS results on the polarized structure function g1dg_{1}^{d} of the deuteron

The study of the spin dependent structure functions of the deuteron is part of a broad physics program addressed by the COMPASS collaboration at CERN. The longitudinal spin asymmetry $A^{d}_{1}$ is evaluated from data on inelastic scattering of longitudinally polarised muons off a large $^{6}$LiD polarised target. Recent results on $g^{d}_{1}$ both for low and high Q$^{2}$ are presented. The obtained values for the first moment $\Gamma^{d}_{1}$ and the flavor-singlet axial current $a_{0}$ are also shown