Single-spin asymmetries for pions and charged kaons are measured in semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering of positrons and electrons off a transversely nuclear-polarized hydrogen target. The dependence of the cross section on the azimuthal angles of the target polarization ([phi]S) and the produced hadron ([phi]) is found to have a substantial sin([phi]+[phi]S) modulation for the production of [pi]+, [pi]- and K+. This Fourier component can be interpreted in terms of non-zero transversity distribution functions and non-zero favored and disfavored Collins fragmentation functions with opposite sign. For [pi]0 and K- production the amplitude of this Fourier component is consistent with zero

The momentum and helicity density distributions of the strange quark sea in the nucleon are obtained in leading order from charged-kaon production in deep-inelastic scattering on the deuteron. The distributions are extracted from spin-averaged K� multiplicities, and from K� and inclusive double-spin asymmetries for scattering of polarized positrons by a polarized deuterium target. The shape of the momentum distribution is softer than that of the average of the and quarks. In the region of measurement 0.021.0�GeV2, the helicity distribution is zero within experimental uncertainties

The first measurement of transverse-spin-dependent azimuthal asymmetries in the pion-induced Drell-Yan (DY) process is reported. We use the CERN SPS 190  GeV/c π^{-} beam and a transversely polarized ammonia target. Three azimuthal asymmetries giving access to different transverse-momentum-dependent (TMD) parton distribution functions (PDFs) are extracted using dimuon events with invariant mass between 4.3  GeV/c^{2} and 8.5  GeV/c^{2}. Within the experimental uncertainties, the observed sign of the Sivers asymmetry is found to be consistent with the fundamental prediction of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) that the Sivers TMD PDFs extracted from DY have a sign opposite to the one extracted from semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering (SIDIS) data. We present two other asymmetries originating from the pion Boer-Mulders TMD PDFs convoluted with either the nucleon transversity or pretzelosity TMD PDFs. A recent COMPASS SIDIS measurement was obtained at a hard scale comparable to that of these DY results. This opens the way for possible tests of fundamental QCD universality predictions.

The COMPASS Collaboration at CERN has measured the transverse spin azimuthal asymmetry of\ud charged hadrons produced in semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering using a 160 GeV μ+ beam and a\ud transversely polarised NH3 target. The Sivers asymmetry of the proton has been extracted in the Bjorken\ud x range 0.003 < x < 0.7. The new measurements have small statistical and systematic uncertainties of\ud a few percent and confirm with considerably better accuracy the previous COMPASS measurement. The\ud Sivers asymmetry is found to be compatible with zero for negative hadrons and positive for positive\ud hadrons, a clear indication of a spin–orbit coupling of quarks in a transversely polarised proton. As\ud compared to measurements at lower energy, a smaller Sivers asymmetry for positive hadrons is found\ud in the region x > 0.03. The asymmetry is different from zero and positive also in the low x region,\ud where sea-quarks dominate. The kinematic dependence of the asymmetry has also been investigated and\ud results are given for various intervals of hadron and virtual photon fractional energy. In contrast to the\ud case of the Collins asymmetry, the results on the Sivers asymmetry suggest a strong dependence on the\ud four-momentum transfer to the nucleon, in agreement with the most recent calculations

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Measurements of the Collins and Sivers asymmetries for charged pions and charged and neutral kaons produced in semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering of high energy muons off transversely polarised protons are presented. The results were obtained using all the available COMPASS proton data, which were taken in the years 2007 and 2010. The Collins asymmetries exhibit in the valence region a non-zero signal for pions and there are hints of non-zero signal also for kaons. The Sivers asymmetries are found to be positive for positive pions and kaons and compatible with zero otherwise

A series of semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering measurements on deuterium, helium, neon, krypton, and xenon targets has been performed in order to study hadronization. The data were collected with the HERMES detector at the DESY laboratory using a 27.6 GeV positron or electron beam. Hadron multiplicities on nucleus A relative to those on the deuteron, R h A , are presented for various hadrons (π + , π − , π 0 , K + , K − , p, andp) as a function of the virtual-photon energy ν, the fraction z of this energy transferred to the hadron, the photon virtuality Q 2 , and the hadron transverse momentum squared p 2 t . The data reveal * Corresponding author. E-mail address: james.stewart@desy.de (J. Stewart). B 780 (2007) A on ν and z can largely be described as a dependence on a single variable L c , which is a combination of ν and z. The dependence on L c suggests in which kinematic conditions partonic and hadronic mechanisms may be dominant. The behaviour of R π A at large p 2 t constitutes tentative evidence for a partonic energy-loss mechanism. The A-dependence of R h A is investigated as a function of ν, z, and of L c . It approximately follows an A α form with α ≈ 0.5-0.6. HERMES Collaboration / Nuclear Physics

We have performed the most comprehensive resonance-model fit of π − π − π þ states using the results of our previously published partial-wave analysis (PWA) of a large data set of diffractive-dissociation events from the reaction π − þ p → π − π − π þ þ p recoil with a 190 GeV=c pion beam. The PWA results, which were obtained in 100 bins of three-pion mass, 0.5 < m 3π < 2.5 GeV=c 2 , and simultaneously in 11 bins of the reduced four-momentum transfer squared, 0.1 < t 0 < 1.0 ðGeV=cÞ 2 , are subjected to a resonance-model fit using Breit-Wigner amplitudes to simultaneously describe a subset of 14 selected waves using 11 isovector light-meson states with J PC ¼ 0 −þ , 1 þþ , 2 þþ , 2 −þ , 4 þþ , and spin-exotic 1 −þ quantum numbers. The model contains the well-known resonances πð1800Þ, a 1 ð1260Þ, a 2 ð1320Þ, π 2 ð1670Þ, π 2 ð1880Þ, and a 4 ð2040Þ. In addition, it includes the disputed π 1 ð1600Þ, the excited states a 1 ð1640Þ, a 2 ð1700Þ, and π 2 ð2005Þ, as well as the resonancelike a 1 ð1420Þ. We measure the resonance parameters mass and width of these objects by combining the information from the PWA results obtained in the 11 t 0 bins. We extract the relative branching fractions of the ρð770Þπ and f 2 ð1270Þπ decays of a 2 ð1320Þ and a 4 ð2040Þ, where the former one is measured for the first time. In a novel approach, we extract the t 0 dependence of the intensity of the resonances and of their phases. The t 0 dependence of the intensities of most resonances differs distinctly from the t 0 dependence of the nonresonant components. For the first time, we determine the t 0 dependence of the phases of the production amplitudes and confirm that the production mechanism of the Pomeron exchange is common to all resonances. We have performed extensive systematic studies on the model dependence and correlations of the measured physical parameters.