The Hermes experiment has investigated the tensor spin structure of the deuteron using the 27.6 GeV/c positron beam of DESY HERA. The use of a tensor-polarized deuteron gas target with only a ...negligible residual vector polarization enabled the first measurement of the tensor asymmetry A(d)zz and the tensor structure function b(d)1 for average values of the Bjorken variable 0.01< <0.45 and of the negative of the squared four-momentum transfer 0.5 GeV2 < <5 GeV2. The quantities A(d)zz and b(d)1 are found to be nonzero. The rise of b(d)1 for decreasing values of x can be interpreted to originate from the same mechanism that leads to nuclear shadowing in unpolarized scattering.
Single-spin asymmetries for semi-inclusive pion production in deep-inelastic scattering have been measured for the first time. A significant target-spin asymmetry of the distribution in the azimuthal ...angle straight phi of the pion relative to the lepton scattering plane was formed for pi(+) electroproduction on a longitudinally polarized hydrogen target. The corresponding analyzing power in the sinstraight phi moment of the cross section is 0.022+/-0.005+/-0.003. This result can be interpreted as the effect of terms in the cross section involving chiral-odd spin distribution functions in combination with a chiral-odd fragmentation function that is sensitive to the transverse polarization of the fragmenting quark.
Single-spin asymmetries have been measured for semi-inclusive electroproduction of π+, π−, π0 and K+ mesons in deep-inelastic scattering off a longitudinally polarised deuterium target. The ...asymmetries appear in the distribution of the hadrons in the azimuthal angle φ around the virtual photon direction, relative to the lepton scattering plane. The corresponding analysing powers in the sinφ moment of the cross section are 0.012±0.002(stat.)±0.002(syst.) for π+, 0.006±0.003(stat.)±0.002(syst.) for π−, 0.021±0.005(stat.)±0.003(syst.) for π0 and 0.013±0.006(stat.)±0.003(syst.) for K+. The sin2φ moments are compatible with zero for all particles.
Double-spin asymmetries of semiinclusive cross sections for the production of identified pions and kaons have been measured in deep inelastic scattering of polarized positrons on a polarized ...deuterium target. Five helicity distributions including those for three sea quark flavors were extracted from these data together with reanalyzed previous data for identified pions from a hydrogen target. These distributions are consistent with zero for all three sea flavors. A recently predicted flavor asymmetry in the polarization of the light quark sea appears to be disfavored by the data.
The Hermes experiment has investigated the tensor spin structure of the deuteron using the 27.6 GeV/c positron beam of DESY HERA. The use of a tensor-polarized deuteron gas target with only a ...negligible residual vector polarization enabled the first measurement of the tensor asymmetry A{sub zz}{sup d} and the tensor structure function b{sub 1}{sup d} for average values of the Bjorken variable 0.01< <0.45 and of the negative of the squared four-momentum transfer 0.5 GeV{sup 2}<<Q{sup 2}><5 GeV{sup 2}. The quantities A{sub zz}{sup d} and b{sub 1}{sup d} are found to be nonzero. The rise of b{sub 1}{sup d} for decreasing values of x can be interpreted to originate from the same mechanism that leads to nuclear shadowing in unpolarized scattering.
A measurement of the proton spin structure function g1p(x,Q{sup 2}) in deep-inelastic scattering is presented. The data were taken with the 27.6 GeV longitudinally polarised positron beam at HERA ...incident on a longitudinally polarised pure hydrogen gas target internal to the storage ring. The kinematic range is 0.021<x<0.85 and 0.8 GeV{sup 2}<Q{sup 2}<20 GeV{sup 2}.
We present a measurement of the longitudinal spin asymmetry A(||) in photoproduction of pairs of hadrons with high transverse momentum p(T). Data were accumulated by the HERMES experiment using a ...27.5 GeV polarized positron beam and a polarized hydrogen target internal to the HERA storage ring. For h(+)h(-) pairs with p(h(1))(T)>1.5 GeV/c and p(h(2))(T)>1.0 GeV/c, the measured asymmetry is A(||) = -0. 28+/-0.12(stat)+/-0.02(syst). This negative value is in contrast to the positive asymmetries typically measured in deep inelastic scattering from protons, and is interpreted to arise from a positive gluon polarization.
Spin asymmetries of semi-inclusive cross sections for the production of positively and negatively charged hadrons have been measured in deep-inelastic scattering of polarized positrons on polarized ...hydrogen and
3
He targets, in the kinematic range 0.023<
x<0.6 and 1 GeV
2<
Q
2<10 GeV
2. Polarized quark distributions are extracted as a function of
x for up
(u+
u
̄
) and down (
d+
d
̄
) flavors. The up quark polarization is positive and the down quark polarization is negative in the measured range. The polarization of the sea is compatible with zero. The first moments of the polarized quark distributions are presented. The isospin non-singlet combination
Δq
3 is consistent with the prediction based on the Bjorken sum rule. The moments of the polarized quark distributions are compared to predictions based on SU(3)
f
flavor symmetry and to a prediction from lattice QCD.
The influence of the nuclear medium on the production of charged hadrons in semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering has been studied by the HERMES experiment at DESY using a 27.5 GeV positron beam. ...The differential multiplicity of charged hadrons and identified charged pions from nitrogen relative to that from deuterium has been measured as a function of the virtual photon energy \(\nu\) and the fraction z of this energy transferred to the hadron. There are observed substantial reductions of the multiplicity ratio \(R_M^{h}\) at low \(\nu\) and at high z, both of which are well described by a gluon-bremsstrahlung model of hadronization. A significant difference of the \(\nu\)-dependence of \(R_M^{h}\) is found between positive and negative hadrons. This is interpreted in terms of a difference between the formation times of protons and pions, using a phenomenological model to describe the \(\nu\)- and z-dependence of \(R_M^{h}\).