Single spin asymmetry in $\pi p$ Drell-Yan process

TL;DR

This paper investigates single spin asymmetries in the pion-proton Drell-Yan process, focusing on contributions from Boer-Mulders, transversity, and pretzelosity distributions, and estimates their magnitudes for the COMPASS experiment.

Contribution

It provides the first estimation of azimuthal asymmetries involving Boer-Mulders, transversity, and pretzelosity functions in pion-proton Drell-Yan, including strategies to enhance measurable signals.

Findings

The $ ext{sin}( extphi+ extphi_S)$ asymmetry is a few percent and measurable.

The $ ext{sin}(3 extphi- extphi_S)$ asymmetry is smaller than the $ ext{sin}( extphi+ extphi_S)$.

Applying a $q_T$ cut enhances the asymmetries.

Abstract

We study the single spin asymmetries for the $\pi p^\uparrow\rightarrow\mu^+\mu^-X$ process. We consider the asymmetries contributed by the coupling of the Boer-Mulders function with the transversity distribution and the pretzelosity distribution, characterized by the $\sin(\phi+\phi_S)$ and $\sin(3\phi-\phi_S)$ azimuthal angular dependence, respectively. We estimate the magnitude of these asymmetries at COMPASS by using proper weighting functions. We find that the $\sin(\phi+\phi_S)$ asymmetry is of the size of a few percent and can be measured through the experiment. The $\sin(3\phi-\phi_S)$ asymmetry is smaller than the $\sin(\phi+\phi_S)$ asymmetry. After a cut on $q_T$, we succeed in enhancing the asymmetry.