Transverse Spin Physics

This book is devoted to the theory and phenomenology of transverse-spin effects in high-energy hadronic physics. Contrary to common past belief, it is now rather clear that such effects are far from irrelevant. A decade or so of intense theoretical work has shed much light on the subject and brought to surface an entire class of new phenomena, which now await thorough experimental investigation. Over the next few years a number of experiments world-wide (at BNL, CERN, DESY and JLAB) will run with transversely polarised beams and targets, providing data that will enrich our knowledge of the transverse-spin structure of hadrons. It is therefore timely to assess the state of the art, and this is the principal aim of the volume.An outline of the book is as follows. After a few introductory remarks (Chapter 1), attention is directed in Chapter 2 to transversely polarised deeply-inelastic scattering (DIS), which probes the transverse spin structure function 2. This existing data are reviewed and discussed (for completeness, a brief presentation of longitudinally polarised DIS is also provided). In Chapter 3 the transverse-spin structure of the proton is illustrated in detail, with emphasis on the transversity distribution and the twist-three parton distribution contributing to g2. Model calculations of these quantities are also presented. In Chapter 4, the QCD evolution of transversity is studied at leading and next-to-leading order. Chapter 5 illustrates the g2 structure function and its related sum rules within the framework of perturbative QCD. The last three chapters are devoted to the phenomenology of transversity, in the context of Drell-Yan processes (Chapter 6), inclusive leptoproduction (Chapter 7) and inclusive hadroproduction (Chapter 8). The interpretation of some recent single-spin asymmetry data is discussed and the prospects for future measurements are reviewed.

This book is devoted to the theory and phenomenology of transverse-spin effects in high-energy hadronic physics. Contrary to common past belief, it is now rather clear that such effects are far from irrelevant. A decade or so of intense theoretical work has shed much light on the subject and brought to surface an entire class of new phenomena, which now await thorough experimental investigation. Over the next few years a number of experiments world-wide (at BNL, CERN, DESY and JLAB) will run with transversely polarised beams and targets, providing data that will enrich our knowledge of the transverse-spin structure of hadrons. It is therefore timely to assess the state of the art, and this is the principal aim of the volume.An outline of the book is as follows. After a few introductory remarks (Chapter 1), attention is directed in Chapter 2 to transversely polarised deeply-inelastic scattering (DIS), which probes the transverse spin structure function g2. This existing data are reviewed and discussed (for completeness, a brief presentation of longitudinally polarised DIS is also provided). In Chapter 3 the transverse-spin structure of the proton is illustrated in detail, with emphasis on the transversity distribution and the twist-three parton distribution contributing to g2. Model calculations of these quantities are also presented. In Chapter 4, the QCD evolution of transversity is studied at leading and next-to-leading order. Chapter 5 illustrates the g2 structure function and its related sum rules within the framework of perturbative QCD. The last three chapters are devoted to the phenomenology of transversity, in the context of Drell-Yan processes (Chapter 6), inclusive leptoproduction (Chapter 7) and inclusive hadroproduction (Chapter 8). The interpretation of some recent single-spin asymmetry data is discussed and the prospects for future measurements are reviewed.

This book establishes the fundamental connections between the physics of quantum phase transitions and the technological promise of quantum information.

Transverse-spin physics has been very active and rapidly developing in the last few years. In this talk, I will briefly summarize recent theoretical developments, focusing on the associated QCD dynamics in transverse spin physics.

Getting down to the bottom line is what this proceedings digest is all about, as any physicist will tell you: spin is the fundamental concept in physics. The applications are pretty universal due to the fact that, using spin-related phenomena, physicists are trying to reveal the fundamental principles of nature – and things don’t come much more bottom-line than that. This volume is the proceedings of the 17th International Spin Physics Symposium which is a forum to discuss spin physics and related topics.

The volume presents an up-to-date survey of spin physics at the very high energies of present and future colliders. Topics discussed include the theory of high-energy spin physics, deep-inelastic scattering, polarization experiments at colliders, the production of high-energy polarized electron and proton beams, the construction of intense polarized sources and high-energy polarimeters. It will represent a significant reference in the field and an informative text for non-specialists as well, with rather complete keynote overview reports by some physicists who have contributed most to the subject. In addition, it will document the character of frontier research symposium of the Conference, with specialized reports of leading experts in the various items of the field.

Strangeness and Spin in Fundamental Physics is dedicated to the discussion of the role played by two subtle and somehow puzzling quantum numbers, the strangeness and the spin, in fundamental physics. They both relate to basic properties of the fundamental quantum field theories describing strong and electro-weak interactions and to their phenomenological applications. In some instances, like the partonic spin structure of the proton, they are deeply correlated. The many puzzling results recently obtained by measuring several spin asymmetries have stimulated gigantic progresses in the study of the spin structure of protons and neutrons. Intense theoretical activity has discovered new features of non-perturbative QCD, like strong correlations between the spin and the intrinsic motions of quarks inside the nucleons. The purpose of this publication is that of providing a complete, updated and critical account of the most recent and relevant discoveries in the above fields, both from the experimental and theoretical sides.