Longitudinal double spin asymmetries in single hadron quasi-real photoproduction at high pTp_T

We measured the longitudinal double spin asymmetries $A_{LL}$ for single hadron muo-production off protons and deuterons at photon virtuality $Q^2$ < 1(GeV/$\it c$)$^2$ for transverse hadron momenta $p_T$ in the range 0.7 GeV/$\it c$ to 4 GeV/$\it c$ . They were determined using COMPASS data taken with a polarised muon beam of 160 GeV/$\it c$ or 200 GeV/$\it c$ impinging on polarised $\mathrm{{}^6LiD}$ or $\mathrm{NH_3}$ targets. The experimental asymmetries are compared to next-to-leading order pQCD calculations, and are sensitive to the gluon polarisation $\Delta G$ inside the nucleon in the range of the nucleon momentum fraction carried by gluons $0.05 < x_g < 0.2$

Interplay among transversity induced asymmetries in hadron leptoproduction

In the fragmentation of a transversely polarized quark several left-right asymmetries are possible for the hadrons in the jet. When only one unpolarized hadron is selected, it exhibits an azimuthal modulation known as Collins effect. When a pair of oppositely charged hadrons is observed, three asymmetries can be considered, a di-hadron asymmetry and two single hadron asymmetries. In lepton deep inelastic scattering on transversely polarized nucleons all these asymmetries are coupled with the transversity distribution. From the high statistics COMPASS data on oppositely charged hadron-pair production we have investigated for the first time the dependence of these three asymmetries on the difference of the azimuthal angles of the two hadrons. The similarity of transversity induced single and di-hadron asymmetries is discussed. A new analysis of the data allows to establish quantitative relationships among them, providing for the first time strong experimental indication that the underlying fragmentation mechanisms are all driven by a common physical process.Comment: 6 figure

Interplay among transversity induced asymmetries in hadron leptoproduction

In the fragmentation of a transversely polarized quark several left-right asymmetries are possible for the hadrons in the jet. When only one unpolarized hadron is selected, it exhibits an azimuthal modulation known as Collins effect. When a pair of oppositely charged hadrons is observed, three asymmetries can be considered, a di-hadron asymmetry and two single hadron asymmetries. In lepton deep inelastic scattering on transversely polarized nucleons all these asymmetries are coupled with the transversity distribution. From the high statistics COMPASS data on oppositely charged hadron-pair production we have investigated for the first time the dependence of these three asymmetries on the difference of the azimuthal angles of the two hadrons. The similarity of transversity induced single and di-hadron asymmetries is discussed. A new analysis of the data allows to establish quantitative relationships among them, providing for the first time strong experimental indication that the underlying fragmentation mechanisms are all driven by a common physical process.Comment: 6 figure

Transverse-momentum-dependent Multiplicities of Charged Hadrons in Muon-Deuteron Deep Inelastic Scattering

A semi-inclusive measurement of charged hadron multiplicities in deep inelastic muon scattering off an isoscalar target was performed using data collected by the COMPASS Collaboration at CERN. The following kinematic domain is covered by the data: photon virtuality $Q^{2}>1$ (GeV/$c$)$^2$, invariant mass of the hadronic system $W > 5$ GeV/$c^2$, Bjorken scaling variable in the range $0.003 < x < 0.4$, fraction of the virtual photon energy carried by the hadron in the range $0.2 < z < 0.8$, square of the hadron transverse momentum with respect to the virtual photon direction in the range 0.02 (GeV/$c)^2 < P_{\rm{hT}}^{2} < 3$ (GeV/$c$)$^2$. The multiplicities are presented as a function of $P_{\rm{hT}}^{2}$ in three-dimensional bins of $x$, $Q^2$, $z$ and compared to previous semi-inclusive measurements. We explore the small-$P_{\rm{hT}}^{2}$ region, i.e. $P_{\rm{hT}}^{2} < 1$ (GeV/$c$)$^2$, where hadron transverse momenta are expected to arise from non-perturbative effects, and also the domain of larger $P_{\rm{hT}}^{2}$, where contributions from higher-order perturbative QCD are expected to dominate. The multiplicities are fitted using a single-exponential function at small $P_{\rm{hT}}^{2}$ to study the dependence of the average transverse momentum $\langle P_{\rm{hT}}^{2}\rangle$ on $x$, $Q^2$ and $z$. The power-law behaviour of the multiplicities at large $P_{\rm{hT}}^{2}$ is investigated using various functional forms. The fits describe the data reasonably well over the full measured range.Comment: 28 pages, 20 figure

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

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.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures and 1 tabl

Measurement of the charged-pion polarisability

The COMPASS collaboration at CERN has investigated pion Compton scattering, $\pi^-\gamma\rightarrow \pi^-\gamma$, at centre-of-mass energy below 3.5 pion masses. The process is embedded in the reaction $\pi^-\mathrm{Ni}\rightarrow\pi^-\gamma\;\mathrm{Ni}$, which is initiated by 190\,GeV pions impinging on a nickel target. The exchange of quasi-real photons is selected by isolating the sharp Coulomb peak observed at smallest momentum transfers, $Q^2<0.0015$\,(GeV/$c$)$^2$. From a sample of 63\,000 events the pion electric polarisability is determined to be $\alpha_\pi\ =\ (\,2.0\ \pm\ 0.6_{\mbox{\scriptsize stat}}\ \pm\ 0.7_{\mbox{\scriptsize syst}}\,) \times 10^{-4}\,\mbox{fm}^3$under the assumption$\alpha_\pi=-\beta_\pi$, which relates the electric and magnetic dipole polarisabilities. It is the most precise measurement of this fundamental low-energy parameter of strong interaction, that has been addressed since long by various methods with conflicting outcomes. While this result is in tension with previous dedicated measurements, it is found in agreement with the expectation from chiral perturbation theory. An additional measurement replacing pions by muons, for which the cross-section behavior is unambigiously known, was performed for an independent estimate of the systematic uncertainty.Comment: Published version: 9 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

Search for exclusive photoproduction of Zc±_c^{\pm}(3900) at COMPASS

A search for the exclusive production of the $Z_c^{\pm}(3900)$ hadron by virtual photons has been performed in the channel $Z_c^{\pm}(3900)\rightarrow J/\psi \pi^{\pm}$. The data cover the range from 7 GeV to 19 GeV in the centre-of-mass energy of the photon-nucleon system. The full set of the COMPASS data set collected with a muon beam between 2002 and 2011 has been used. An upper limit for the ratio $BR(Z_c^{\pm}(3900)\rightarrow J/\psi \pi^{\pm} )\times \sigma_{ \gamma~N \rightarrow Z_c^{\pm}(3900)~ N} /\sigma_{\gamma~N \rightarrow J/\psi~ N}$ of $3.7\times10^{-3}$ has been established at the confidence level of 90%.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl