Improving constraints on gluon spin-momentum correlations in transversely polarized protons via midrapidity open-heavy-flavor electrons in p↑+p collisions at √s =200 GeV

0572200 - FZÚ 2024 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Abdulameer, N.J. - Acharya, U. - Aidala, C. - Vrba, Václav … Total 324 authors
Improving constraints on gluon spin-momentum correlations in transversely polarized protons via midrapidity open-heavy-flavor electrons in p↑+p collisions at √s =200 GeV.
Physical Review D. Roč. 107, č. 5 (2023), č. článku 052012. ISSN 2470-0010. E-ISSN 2470-0029
Institutional support: RVO:68378271
Keywords : pp: colliding beams * p: polarized beam * gluon: correlation function
OECD category: Particles and field physics
Impact factor: 5, year: 2022
Method of publishing: Open access

Polarized proton-proton collisions provide leading-order access to gluons, presenting an opportunity to constrain gluon spin-momentum correlations within transversely polarized protons and enhance our understanding of the three-dimensional structure of the proton. Midrapidity open-heavy-flavor production at s=200  GeV is dominated by gluon-gluon fusion, providing heightened sensitivity to gluon dynamics relative to other production channels. Transverse single-spin asymmetries of positrons and electrons from heavy-flavor hadron decays are measured at midrapidity using the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. These charge-separated measurements are sensitive to gluon correlators that can in principle be related to gluon orbital angular momentum via model calculations. Explicit constraints on gluon correlators are extracted for two separate models, one of which had not been constrained previously.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0350510