Tensor polarization dependent fragmentation functions and e+e-\to V \pi X at high energies

TL;DR

This paper systematically studies three-dimensional tensor polarization dependent fragmentation functions for spin-one hadrons, analyzing their relationships, and explores their role in high-energy e+e- to V pi X processes, providing theoretical predictions for observables.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive classification of 72 tensor polarization dependent fragmentation functions and analyzes their relevance in high-energy semi-inclusive processes, including their relationships and phenomenological implications.

Findings

72 fragmentation functions classified by twist

Derived relationships between twist-3 functions and quark-gluon correlators

Predicted azimuthal and spin asymmetries in e+e- annihilation

Abstract

We present the systematic results for three dimensional fragmentation functions of spin one hadrons defined via quark-quark correlator. There are totally 72 such fragmentation functions, among them 18 are twist-2, 36 are twist-3 and 18 are twist-4. We also present the relationships between the twist-3 parts and those defined via quark-gluon-quark correlator obtained from the QCD equation of motion. We show that two particle semi-inclusive hadron production process $e^+e^-\to V\pi X$ at high energies is one of the best places to study the three-dimensional tensor polarization dependent fragmentation functions. We present the general kinematic analysis of this process and show that the cross section should be expressed in terms of 81 independent structure functions. After that we present parton model results for the hadronic tensor, the structure functions, the azimuthal and spin asymmetries in terms of these gauge invariant fragmentation functions at the leading order pQCD up to twist-3.