Leading logarithm calculation of the e^+ e^- -> e^+ \nu_e \bar{u} d cross section

We analytically evaluate in the leading logarithm approximation the differential cross section for e^+ e^- -> e^+ \nu_e \bar{u} d. We compare our order \alpha^4 \alpha_s^0 leading-log result to the order \alpha^4 \alpha_s^0 exact result obtained from the GRC4F Monte Carlo program. Finally we use the Gluck, Reya, Schienbien distribution of partons in a virtual photon, which incorporates both evolution and nonperturbative strong interaction contributions, to obtain better estimates of the differential cross section.Comment: 10 pages including 9 figure

Longitudinally Polarized Photoproduction of Inclusive Hadrons Beyond the Leading Order

We present a complete next-to-leading order QCD calculation for single-inclusive large-pT hadron production in longitudinally polarized lepton-nucleon collisions, consistently including ``direct'' and ``resolved'' photon contributions. This process could be studied experimentally at a future polarized lepton-proton collider like eRHIC at BNL. We examine the sensitivity of such measurements to the so far completely unknown parton content of circularly polarized photons.Comment: 15 pages, 7 eps figure

Threshold Resummation for W-Boson Production at RHIC

We study the resummation of large logarithmic perturbative corrections to the partonic cross sections relevant for the process pp -> W^+- X at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). At RHIC, polarized protons are available, and spin asymmetries for this process will be used for precise measurements of the up and down quark and anti-quark distributions in the proton. The corrections arise near the threshold for the partonic reaction and are associated with soft-gluon emission. We perform the resummation to next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy, for the rapidity-differential cross section. We find that resummation leads to relatively moderate effects on the cross sections and spin asymmetries.Comment: 25 pages, 15 figures as eps files. One reference added and typo correcte

Probing the parton densities of virtual photons with the reaction gamma^*gamma->jets at LEP

We present a next-to-leading order calculation of jet production in gamma^*gamma collisions from e+e- scattering in a region where the virtuality Q^2 of the probing virtual photon is small compared to the transverse jet energy. The calculation is based on the phase-space slicing method. The initial state singularity of the virtual photon is factorized into the structure function of the virtual photon, using the MS-bar factorization scheme for virtual photons. Numerical results are presented for LEP2 conditions. The perturbative stability of the pure direct virtual photon approach is compared to that of including resolved virtual photons in different regions of Q^2. We make predictions for cross sections which suggest that different parametrizations of virtual photon parton densities should be distinguishable by measurements of jet cross sections at LEP.Comment: 19 pages, 8 eps figue

Longitudinally Polarized Photoproduction of Inclusive Hadrons at Fixed-Target Experiments

We present a detailed phenomenological study of spin-dependent single-inclusive high-p_T hadron photoproduction with particular emphasis on the kinematics relevant for the Compass and Hermes fixed-target experiments. We carefully examine the theoretical uncertainties associated with the only moderate transverse momenta accessible in such measurements and analyze the sensitivity of the relevant spin asymmetries to the gluon polarization in the nucleon as well as to the completely unknown parton content of circularly polarized photons.Comment: 12 pages, 14 figures; final version to appear in EPJC; comparison to E155 data and references adde

Has the QCD RG-Improved Parton Content of Virtual Photons been Observed?

It is demonstrated that present $e^+e^-$ and DIS ep data on the structure of the virtual photon can be understood entirely in terms of the standard `naive' quark--parton model box approach. Thus the QCD renormalization group (RG) improved parton distributions of virtual photons, in particular their gluonic component, have not yet been observed. The appropriate kinematical regions for their future observation are pointed out as well as suitable measurements which may demonstrate their relevance.Comment: 24 pages, LaTeX, 5 figure

Heavy Quark Initiated Contributions to Deep Inelastic Structure Functions

We present O(alpha_s^1) corrections to deep inelastic scattering amplitudes on massive quarks obtained within the scheme of Aivazis, Collins, Olness and Tung (ACOT). After identifying the correct subtraction term the convergence of these contributions towards the analogous coefficient functions for massless quarks, obtained within the modified minimal subtraction scheme (MSbar), is demonstrated. Furthermore, the quantitative relevance of the contributions to neutral current (NC) and charged current (CC) structure functions is investigated for several choices of the factorization scale.Comment: 29 pages, 6 figures; uses epsfig.sty, amssymb.sty, axodraw.sty; minor changes for publication in Phys. Rev.

Generalized parton distributions of the nucleon in constituent quark models

Generalized parton distributions (GPDs) are studied at the hadronic (nonperturbative) scale within different assumptions based on a relativistic constituent quark model. In particular, by means of a meson-cloud model we investigate the role of nonperturbative antiquark degrees of freedom and the valence quark contribution. A QCD evolution of the obtained GPDs is used to add perturbative effects and to investigate the GPDs' sensitivity to the nonperturbative ingredients of the calculation at larger (experimental) scale.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, presented at the Baryon-04 Conference, Palaiseau (France), October 25-29, 2004. Nuclear Physics A, to be publishe

New proton polarized structure functions in charged current processes at HERA

Estimates for longitudinal spin asymmetries which single out new polarized nucleon structure functions in deeply inelastic charged current interactions at HERA energies are given, exploiting their interpretation in terms of polarized quark distributions. These asymmetries turn out to be large and allow a measurement of the new polarized structure functions $g_1^{W}$ and $g_5^{W}$, which would add valuable tests and information on the spin content of quarks inside a polarized proton. We also show that single spin asymmetries in neutral current interactions are very small.Comment: LaTeX, 8 pages, 6 figure