Sea Quark Polarization Research Articles

An analysis of polarized parton distribution functions with nonlinear QCD evolution equations

We present the polarized parton distribution functions from a QCD analysis of the worldwide polarized deep inelastic scattering data, based on the dynamical parton distribution model. All the sea quarks and gluons are dynamically generated from QCD radiations, with the nonperturbative input comprising only the polarized valence quark distributions. This approach leads to a simple parametrization, which has only seven free parameters. In the analysis, we apply the DGLAP equations with parton-parton recombination corrections. For the first step, the DGLAP equations, parton-parton recombination corrections, and experimental observable g1 are all evaluated at the leading order. The parameterized nonperturbative input at an extremely low Q02 reproduces well the spin-dependent structure functions measured at high Q2. Comparisons with experimental observations and some other polarized parton distribution functions are also shown. Our results are in good agreement with the experimental data and consistent with some other parameterized models. Furthermore, our analysis presents the positive polarized gluon distribution and it suggests that the gluon distribution plays an important role to the proton spin content. The polarized antiquark distributions are non-zero at high Q2 but quite small compared to polarized valence quark distributions, based on this dynamical parton model analysis. This analysis gives smaller statistical uncertainties for the polarized sea quark and gluon distributions, thanks to the fewer free parameters used for the parametrization of the initial polarized PDFs.

Handedness correlation from quark polarization

Jet handedness as a measure of quark and/or gluon polarizations has been proposed for nearly 30 years. It was demonstrated by measuring the correlation of jet handedness in the electron positron annihilation process. Once parameters are determined, the method could be used to measure quark and/or gluon polarizations in other experiments. The reported data provided evidence for the jet handedness and handedness correlation. However, the jet handedness correlation measured in the electron positron annihilation process from the opposite jets contradicts theoretical prediction by a sign. In order to explain this, we present a chromo-hydrogen-like model in this paper. According to calculations, both jet handedness and handedness correlation depend on not only the polarization of the fragmenting valence quark but also the polarization of the sea quark. It is the appearance of the sea quark polarization that can solve the contradiction. In other words, measurements of jet handedness and handedness correlation can be used to determine the sea quark polarization.

Measurement of Longitudinal Single-Spin Asymmetry for W± Production in Polarized Proton+Proton Collisions at STAR

The contribution from the sea quark polarization to the nucleon spin is an important piece for the complete understanding of the nucleon spin structure. The production of W ± bosons in longitudinally polarized p+p collisions at the RHIC collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory provides a unique probe of the sea quark polarization, through the parity-violating single-spin asymmetry, AL . At the STAR experiment, the W bosons that decay through the W → ev channel at mid-rapidity (|η <1.3) can be effectively determined with the Electromagnetic Calorimeters and Time Projection Chamber. The STAR measurements of AL for W boson from datasets taken in 2011 and 2012 at =510 GeV have been included in the global analysis of polarized parton distribution functions, and provided significant constraints on the helicity distribution functions of and quarks. The final AL results from 2013 STAR data sample are reported, which is about three times larger than the total integrated luminosity of previous years. The combined results of AL for 2011-2013 data are also given. A flavor asymmetry of light sea quark helicity distribution, , is confirmed from a re-weighting of global analysis NNPDFpol1.1 after including the new AL results. In addition, results on the double-spin asymmetries ALL for W ±, and AL for Z/γ* production are also reported.

Recent results on cold-QCD from RHIC

Polarized proton-proton collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) provide unique opportunities to study the spin structure of the nucleon. We will highlight recent results on the nucleon spin structure from the STAR and PHENIX experiments at RHIC: (1) A sizable gluon polarization in the proton is measured with longitudinal double spin asymmetries of jet and hadron production; (2) Longitudinal single spin asymmetries in W boson production improve constraints on the sea quark polarization. The new spin asymmetry results for W boson confirmed the SU(2) flavor asymmetry of the light sea quark polarization in the proton; (3) Transverse spin effects in hadronic systems offer new implications on parton distribution functions in the collinear and transverse momentum dependent frameworks. We will also discuss near term plans for the STAR forward detector upgrade and prospects for proton-proton and protonion collisions in the years beyond 2021 at STAR.

Nucleon spin structure and measurements on sea quark polarization at RHIC

The nucleon spin structure in terms of its parton constituents is a fundamental question in QCD. The sea quark contribution to the nucleon spin is an important piece for a complete understanding of the nucleon spin structure. The production of W bosons in longitudinally polarized proton-proton collisions at RHIC provides a unique probe for the sea quark polarization, through the parity-violating single-spin asymmetry A L = ( σ + − σ − ) / ( σ + + σ − ) . At RHIC, W ’s can be detected via the leptonic channel W → e ν with the kinematics of the decay lepton alone. Longitudinally polarized proton-proton collision events at s =500 GeV were recorded at RHIC through the years 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Both STAR and PHENIX experiments completed their measurements on longitudinal single spin asymmetries for W bosons as a function of decay lepton rapidity. These results provide new constraints on sea quark polarizations through the QCD global analyses, which clearly indicate the existence of a flavor asymmetry in the polarization of the light-quark sea, Δ u ¯ > Δ d ¯ , in the proton for parton momentum fraction range of 0.05 x d ¯ > u ¯ over a wide x range has been observed. On the other hand, the phenomenological studies showed that the spin transfer to Λ ¯ anti-hyperons provides a natural connection to helicity or transversity distributions of strange and anti-strange quarks in the proton. STAR experiment made the first and an improved measurement on the longitudinal spin transfer D LL to Λ and Λ ¯ hyperons in longitudinally polarized proton-proton collisions at 200 GeV. STAR also completed the first measurement on transverse spin transfer D LL to Λ and Λ ¯ hyperons in transversely polarized proton-proton collisions at 200 GeV. These data and future measurements with higher precision and larger momentum fraction in the forward region at RHIC will shed new lights on the polarized parton distributions for strange and anti-strange quark in the nucleon.

Measurement of Longitudinal Spin Asymmetries for Weak Boson Production in Polarized Proton-Proton Collisions at STAR

The production of [Formula: see text] bosons in longitudinally polarized [Formula: see text] collisions is a powerful tool to study the spin-flavor structure of the proton. We report measurements of single- and double-spin asymmetries for [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] production in longitudinally polarized proton-proton collisions at [Formula: see text] GeV at RHIC. The single-spin asymmetry results for [Formula: see text] from data sets collected by STAR experiment in 2011 and 2012 provided new constraints on proton’s polarized sea quark distributions and prefer a sizable value for [Formula: see text] polarization. The status for the analysis of a much larger data set collected by STAR in 2013 will also be given.

Recent results on nucleon spin structure study at RHIC

Both the PHENIX and STAR experiments at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory are running polarized proton–proton collisions at $$\sqrt s $$ = 200 and 500 GeV. The main goal of the RHIC spin physics program is to gain deeper insight into the spin structure of the nucleon. We will give an overview of recent spin results from RHIC, particularly the study of gluon polarization via jet/hadron production and sea quark polarization via W boson production in longitudinally polarized proton–proton collisions.

Magnetic moments ofJP=32+decuplet baryons using effective quark masses in a chiral constituent quark model

The magnetic moments of ${J}^{P}={\frac{3}{2}}^{+}$ decuplet baryons have been calculated in the chiral constituent quark model ($\ensuremath{\chi}\mathrm{CQM}$) with explicit results for the contribution coming from the valence quark polarizations, sea quark polarizations, and their orbital angular momentum. Since the ${J}^{P}={\frac{3}{2}}^{+}$ decuplet baryons have short lifetimes, the experimental information about them is limited. The $\ensuremath{\chi}\mathrm{CQM}$ has important implications for chiral symmetry breaking as well as SU(3) symmetry breaking since it works in the region between the QCD confinement scale and the chiral symmetry breaking scale. The predictions in the model not only give a satisfactory fit when compared with the experimental data but also show improvement over the other models. The effect of the confinement on quark masses has also been discussed in detail and the results of $\ensuremath{\chi}$CQM are found to improve further with the inclusion of effective quark masses.

Spin physics highlights from STAR

As the world’s only polarized proton collider, the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven plays an important role in understanding the spin structure of the proton. The STAR detector, with its large acceptance for calorimetry and tracking, has been used to study polarized proton collisions for more than a decade with a range of jet, meson, and boson probes. We will discuss jets, neutral pions, and W bosons as probes of the proton’s helicity structure. Here STAR measurements have significant impact on global fits of sea quark polarizations and have provided the first firm evidence of non-zero gluon polarization within the proton. We will discuss W/Z bosons, jets, pions, and pion-jet correlations as probes of the transverse spin structure of the proton, and we will use the example of a proposed dijet measurement with an upgraded STAR detector to peer into the future.

Recent results of gluon and sea quark polarization measurements in polarized proton-proton collisions at STAR

The STAR experiment at RHIC is carrying out a comprehensive high-energy spin physics program to understand the internal structure and dynamics of the proton in polarized proton-proton collisions at = 200 GeV and = 500/510 GeV. STAR has the capability, with nearly full azimuthal coverage, to reconstruct leptons, hadrons and jets in the mid-rapidity region (|η| < 1). The results for inclusive jet longitudinal double spin asymmetries taken during the 2009 RHIC run indicate the first non-zero gluon contribution (Δg(x,Q2)/g(x,Q2)) to the proton spin for 0.05 < x < 1 (Bjorken-x: momentum fraction of partons). Recent longitudinal single-spin asymmetry measurements of W+/− bosons at = 500/510 GeV in polarized proton-proton collisions provide a direct probe of the polarized anti-u and anti-d quark distributions (Δū(x, Q2), Δd̄(x, Q2)). These results better constrain the polarized gluon and sea quark distributions of the proton in the RHIC sensitive kinematic region. Future measurements with continuing high energy polarized proton-proton run at RHIC and detector upgrade will explore the gluonic contribution to the proton spin in extended range.

Meson polarized distribution function and mass dependence of the nucleon parton densities

The polarized distribution functions of mesons, including pion, kaon and eta, using the proton structure function, are calculated. We are looking for a relationship between the polarized distribution of mesons and the polarized structure of nucleons. We show that the meson polarized parton distributions leads to zero total spin for the concerned mesons, considering the orbital angular momentum of quarks and gluons inside the meson. Two separate Monte Carlo algorithms are applied to compute the polarized parton distributions of the kaon. Via the mass dependence of quark distributions, the distribution function of the eta meson is obtained. A new method by which the polarized sea quark distributions of protons are evolved separately — which cannot be performed easily using the standard solution of DGLAP equations — is introduced. The mass dependence of these distributions is obtained, using the renormalization group equation which makes their evolutions more precise. Comparison between the evolved distributions and the available experimental data validates the suggested solutions for separated evolutions.

Measurement of Sea Quark Polarization with W Boson Production at PHENIX

W boson production is observed in = 500 [GeV] proton proton collision at RHIC-PHENIX experiment. The single longitudinal spin asymmetry AL(p̄p → W+X) is measured via decay positrons in the mid rapidity region. The measured asymmetry −0.83 ± 0.31 ± (11% scale uncertainty) is consistent within uncertainty to calculations from various polarized parton distribution functions.

Forward upgrade for W physics at the RHIC-PHENIX experiment

The RHIC-PHENIX experiment aims to reveal the flavor-sorted sea quark polarization in the proton. To achieve the goal, the PHENIX forward muon arms have been upgraded for the polarized proton-proton production run at √s = 500 GeV starting at Jan. 2011. The current status and readiness for the measurements are reported in this contribution.

THE PROTON SPIN PUZZLE: WHERE ARE WE TODAY?

The proton spin puzzle has challenged our understanding of QCD for the last 20 years. New measurements of polarized glue, valence and sea quark polarization, including strange quark polarization, are available. What is new and exciting in the data, and what might this tell us about the structure of the proton? The proton spin puzzle seems to be telling us about the interplay of valence quarks with the complex vacuum structure of QCD.

Sea quark and gluon polarization in the nucleon

We present results on the quark and gluon polarization in the nucleon obtained in a combined next to leading order analysis to the available inclusive and semi-inclusive polarized deep inelastic scattering data. Using the Lagrange multiplier method, we asses the uncertainty inherent to the extraction of the different spin dependent parton densities in a QCD global fit, and the impact of the increased set of semi-inclusive data now available.

QCD analysis of flavor-asymmetry for polarized sea quark distributions

We analyze flavor-asymmetry in the light-quark sea distribution, using polarized valon framework. The comparison of our obtained results for δ u ¯ ( x , Q 2 ) , δ d ¯ ( x , Q 2 ) and δ s ¯ ( x , Q 2 ) with the GRSV model and recent experimental data from HERMES group indicates a very good agreement with them specially for strange sea quark. Parton orbital angular momentum is also investigated. It is shown that the Q 2 evolution of quark and gluon angular momentum is in good agreement with the result which can be obtained in the NLO approximation from helicity sum rule.

Sea quark polarization and semi-inclusive DIS data

We investigate the potential impact of forthcoming Jefferson Lab semi-inclusive polarized deep inelastic scattering proton measurements in the determination of the sea quark polarization in the nucleon by means of a next to leading order global QCD analysis. Specifically, we estimate the resulting improvement in the constraints on polarized parton densities for the different flavors, which is found to be significant for up and strange quarks, and the correlation between remaining uncertainty ranges for each of the parton species.

Spin dependent structure functions of the nucleon

We calculate the spin dependent structure functions g{sub 1}(x) and g{sub 2}(x) of the proton and neutron. Our calculation uses the meson cloud model of nucleon structure, which has previously given a good description of the HERMES data on polarized sea quark distributions, and includes all the leading contributions to spin dependent effects in this model. We find good agreement between our calculations and the current experimental data for the structure functions. We include in our calculations kinematic terms, which mix transverse and longitudinal spin components, for hadrons of spin 1/2, 1, and 3/2, and which can give considerable contributions to the g{sub 2} structure functions. We also consider the possible interference terms between baryons or mesons in different final states with the same quantum numbers, and show that most of these terms do not give leading contributions to the spin dependent structure functions.

Sea quark and gluon polarization in the nucleon at NLO accuracy

We investigate the sea quark polarization in the nucleon by means of a combined next to leading order analysis to the recently enlarged set of inclusive and semi-inclusive polarized deep inelastic scattering data. Using the Lagrange multiplier method, we asses the uncertainty inherent to the extraction of the different spin dependent parton densities in a QCD global fit, and the impact of the increased set of semi-inclusive data now available. We comment on future prospects at RHIC and JLAB and their potential impact in the future determination of polarized parton densities.

Quark helicity distributions in the nucleon for up, down, and strange quarks from semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering

Polarized deep--inelastic scattering data on longitudinally polarized hydrogen and deuterium targets have been used to determine double spin asymmetries of cross sections. Inclusive and semi--inclusive asymmetries for the production of positive and negative pions from hydrogen were obtained in a re--analysis of previously published data. Inclusive and semi--inclusive asymmetries for the production of negative and positive pions and kaons were measured on a polarized deuterium target. The separate helicity densities for the up and down quarks and the anti--up, anti--down, and strange sea quarks were computed from these asymmetries in a ``leading order'' QCD analysis. The polarization of the up--quark is positive and that of the down--quark is negative. All extracted sea quark polarizations are consistent with zero, and the light quark sea helicity densities are flavor symmetric within the experimental uncertainties. First and second moments of the extracted quark helicity densities in the measured range are consistent with fits of inclusive data.