Double helicity asymmetry for charged pion + jet production in p+p collisions at [square root of] s=200 GeV at STAR

Inclusive measurements from polarized proton-proton collisions at RHIC have constrained [Delta]g, the polarized gluon distribution function of the proton. Correlation observables, such as this pion+jet measurement, allow for reconstruction of initial parton kinematics and are thus sensitive to the x dependence of [Delta]g. By measuring charged pions opposite a jet, this particular measurement can be sensitive to the flavor of the struck parton. This measurement, which is dominated by the quark-gluon subprocess, can be divided into terms proportional to [Delta]u[Delta]g and [Delta]d[Delta]g. The relatively larger quark polarization amplifies the measured asymmetry thereby enhancing the statistical power. This thesis presents the result of the mid-rapidity pion+jet longitudinal double spin asymmetry analysis from 10.6 pb-1 of luminosity collected in the 2009 200 GeV p+p run.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2013

Author dc:creator

• Hays-Wehle, James Prewitt

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Richard G. Milner.

• Physics.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/79540

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/79540