Target Fragmentation at Polarized HERA: A Test of Universal Topological Charge Screening in QCD

TL;DR

This paper investigates whether topological charge screening in QCD causes a target-independent suppression in polarized proton structure functions by analyzing semi-inclusive target fragmentation at polarized HERA.

Contribution

It proposes a novel test of universal topological charge screening effects in QCD through semi-inclusive measurements at polarized HERA.

Findings

Supports the hypothesis of target-independent suppression due to topological charge screening

Provides a framework for experimental verification at polarized HERA

Links proton spin effects to fundamental QCD vacuum properties

Abstract

Topological charge screening has been proposed as the mechanism responsible for the anomalous suppression in the first moment of the polarized proton structure function -- the `proton spin' effect. An immediate consequence is that this suppression should be target-independent, since the screening is a fundamental property of the QCD vacuum. Here, we study the possibility of testing the target-independent suppression in semi-inclusive target fragmentation processes at polarized HERA.