Single spin asymmetries from a single Wilson loop

TL;DR

It is found that in the limit of a small longitudinal momentum fraction x, only the dipole-type gluon TMDs survive and become identical to each other, paving the way to a better understanding of the role of gluons in the three-dimensional structure of spin-polarized protons.

Abstract

We study the leading-power gluon transverse momentum dependent distributions (TMDs) of relevance to the study of asymmetries in the scattering off transversely polarized hadrons. Next-to-leading-order perturbative calculations of these TMDs show that at large transverse momentum they have common dynamical origins, but that in the limit of small longitudinal momentum fraction $x$ only one origin remains. We find that in this limit only the dipole-type gluon TMDs survive and become identical to each other. At small $x$ they are all given by the expectation value of a single Wilson loop inside the transversely polarized hadron, the so-called spin-dependent odderon. This universal origin of transverse spin asymmetries at small $x$ is of importance to current and future experimental studies, paving the way to a better understanding of the role of gluons in the three-dimensional structure of spin-polarized protons.

Figures (1)

• Figure 1: Diagrams contributing to T-odd gluon TMDs at large transverse momentum in the flavor-singlet case. (a): soft-gluon pole contribution. (b): hard-gluon pole contribution. (Mirror diagrams are not shown).