Twist-3 fragmentation effects for $A_{LT}$ in light hadron production from proton-proton collisions

TL;DR

This paper calculates the twist-3 fragmentation contribution to the double-spin asymmetry $A_{LT}$ in light hadron production from polarized proton collisions, highlighting its potential significance for RHIC experiments.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed calculation of twist-3 fragmentation effects on $A_{LT}$, including gauge invariance, in collinear factorization.

Findings

Twist-3 fragmentation effects can significantly contribute to $A_{LT}$.

The analysis confirms gauge invariance of the twist-3 fragmentation contribution.

Highlights the importance of considering fragmentation mechanisms in spin asymmetry studies.

Abstract

We compute the contribution from the twist-3 fragmentation function for light hadron production in collisions between transversely and longitudinally polarized protons, i.e., $p^\uparrow \vec{p} \to h\,X$, which can cause a double-spin asymmetry (DSA) $A_{LT}$. This is a na\"ive T-even twist-3 observable that we analyze in collinear factorization using both Feynman gauge and lightcone gauge as well as give a general proof of color gauge invariance. So far only twist-3 effects in the transversely polarized proton have been studied for $A_{LT}$ in $p^\uparrow \vec{p} \to h\,X$. However, there are indications that the na\"ive T-odd transverse single-spin asymmetry (SSA) $A_N$ in $p^\uparrow p \to h\,X$ is dominated not by such distribution effects but rather by a fragmentation mechanism. Therefore, one may expect similarly that the fragmentation contribution is important for $A_{LT}$. Given possible plans at RHIC to measure this observable, it is timely to provide a calculation of this term.