The fundamental building blocks of the proton-quarks and gluons-have been known for decades. However, we still have an incomplete theoretical and experimental understanding of how these particles and ...their dynamics give rise to the quantum bound state of the proton and its physical properties, such as its spin
. The two up quarks and the single down quark that comprise the proton in the simplest picture account only for a few per cent of the proton mass, the bulk of which is in the form of quark kinetic and potential energy and gluon energy from the strong force
. An essential feature of this force, as described by quantum chromodynamics, is its ability to create matter-antimatter quark pairs inside the proton that exist only for a very short time. Their fleeting existence makes the antimatter quarks within protons difficult to study, but their existence is discernible in reactions in which a matter-antimatter quark pair annihilates. In this picture of quark-antiquark creation by the strong force, the probability distributions as a function of momentum for the presence of up and down antimatter quarks should be nearly identical, given that their masses are very similar and small compared to the mass of the proton
. Here we provide evidence from muon pair production measurements that these distributions are considerably different, with more abundant down antimatter quarks than up antimatter quarks over a wide range of momenta. These results are expected to revive interest in several proposed mechanisms for the origin of this antimatter asymmetry in the proton that had been disfavoured by previous results
, and point to future measurements that can distinguish between these mechanisms.
The fundamental building blocks of the proton—quarks and gluons—have been known for decades. However, we still have an incomplete theoretical and experimental understanding of how these particles and ...their dynamics give rise to the quantum bound state of the proton and its physical properties, such as its spin1. The two up quarks and the single down quark that comprise the proton in the simplest picture account only for a few per cent of the proton mass, the bulk of which is in the form of quark kinetic and potential energy and gluon energy from the strong force2. An essential feature of this force, as described by quantum chromodynamics, is its ability to create matter–antimatter quark pairs inside the proton that exist only for a very short time. Their fleeting existence makes the antimatter quarks within protons difficult to study, but their existence is discernible in reactions in which a matter–antimatter quark pair annihilates. In this picture of quark–antiquark creation by the strong force, the probability distributions as a function of momentum for the presence of up and down antimatter quarks should be nearly identical, given that their masses are very similar and small compared to the mass of the proton3. Here we provide evidence from muon pair production measurements that these distributions are considerably different, with more abundant down antimatter quarks than up antimatter quarks over a wide range of momenta. These results are expected to revive interest in several proposed mechanisms for the origin of this antimatter asymmetry in the proton that had been disfavoured by previous results4, and point to future measurements that can distinguish between these mechanisms.
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.
A measurement of the virtual-photon asymmetry
A
2
(
x
,
Q
2
) and of the spin-structure function
g
2
(
x
,
Q
2
) of the proton are presented for the kinematic range 0.004<
x
<0.9 and 0.18 GeV
2
<
Q
2
...<20 GeV
2
. The data were collected by the HERMES experiment at the HERA storage ring at DESY while studying inclusive deep-inelastic scattering of 27.6 GeV longitudinally polarized leptons off a transversely polarized hydrogen gas target. The results are consistent with previous experimental data from CERN and SLAC. For the
x
-range covered, the measured integral of
g
2
(
x
) converges to the null result of the Burkhardt–Cottingham sum rule. The
x
2
moment of the twist-3 contribution to
g
2
(
x
) is found to be compatible with zero.
Azimuthal single-spin asymmetries of leptoproduced pions and charged kaons were measured on a transversely polarized hydrogen target. Evidence for a naive-T-odd, transverse-momentum-dependent parton ...distribution function is deduced from nonvanishing Sivers effects for pi(+), pi(0), and K(+/-), as well as in the difference of the pi(+) and pi(-) cross sections.
A
bstract
Beam-helicity and beam-charge asymmetries in the hard exclusive leptoproduction of real photons from an unpolarised hydrogen target by a 27.6 GeV lepton beam are extracted from the H
ermes
...data set of 2006-2007 using a missing-mass event selection technique. The asymmetry amplitudes extracted from this data set are more precise than those extracted from the earlier data set of 1996-2005 previously analysed in the same manner by H
ermes
. The results from the two data sets are compatible with each other. Results from these combined data sets are extracted and constitute the most precise asymmetry amplitude measurements made in the H
ermes
kinematic region using a missing-mass event selection technique.
Double-spin asymmetries in exclusive electroproduction of real photons from a transversely polarized hydrogen target are measured with respect to the product of target polarization with beam helicity ...and beam charge, and with respect to the product of target polarization with beam helicity alone. The asymmetries arise from the deeply virtual Compton scattering process and its interference with the Bethe–Heitler process. They are related to the real part of the same combination of Compton form factors as that determining the previously published transverse target single-spin asymmetries through the imaginary part. The results for the double-spin asymmetries are found to be compatible with zero within the uncertainties of the measurement, and are not incompatible with the predictions of the only available GPD-based calculation.
A
bstract
The beam-helicity asymmetry in exclusive electroproduction of real photons by the longitudinally polarized Hera positron beam scattering off an unpolarized hydrogen target is measured at ...Hermes. The asymmetry arises from deeply virtual Compton scattering and its interference with the Bethe-Heitler process. Azimuthal amplitudes of the beam-helicity asymmetry are extracted from a data sample consisting of
ep
→
epγ
events with detection of all particles in the final state including the recoiling proton. The installation of a recoil detector, while reducing the acceptance of the experiment, allows the elimination of background from
ep
→
eN πγ
events, which was estimated to contribute an average of about 12% to the signal in previous Hermes publications. The removal of this background from the present data sample is shown to increase the magnitude of the leading asymmetry amplitude by 0
.
054 ± 0
.
016 to −0
.
328 ± 0
.
027 (stat
.
) ± 0
.
045 (syst
.
).
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