Double-longitudinal spin asymmetry in single-inclusive lepton scattering at NLO

Abstract

We calculate the double-spin asymmetries $A_{\mathrm{LL}}$ for the processes $\ell N\to h X$ and $\ell N\to {\mathrm{jet}}\, X$ at next-to-leading order accuracy in perturbative QCD. We compare our theoretical results for $A_{\mathrm{LL}}$ to data from the SLAC E155 experiment, finding only partially satisfactory agreement. We conclude that measurements of $A_{\mathrm{LL}}$ and the relevant polarized and unpolarized cross sections should be performed at the present-day fixed-target lepton scattering experiments, as well as at a future electron ion collider, in order to verify our understanding of this process. We present predictions of the longitudinal double-spin asymmetries for these experiments.