Longitudinal and transverse spin asymmetries for inclusive jet production at mid-rapidity in polarized p+p collisions at s √ =200 GeV

Abstract

We report STAR measurements of the longitudinal double-spin asymmetry ALL, the transverse single-spin asymmetry AN, and the transverse double-spin asymmetries AΣ and ATT for inclusive jet production at mid-rapidity in polarized p+p collisions at a center-of-mass energy of √s=200 GeV. The data represent integrated luminosities of 7.6 pb-1 with longitudinal polarization and 1.8 pb-1 with transverse polarization, with 50%–55% beam polarization, and were recorded in 2005 and 2006. No evidence is found for the existence of statistically significant jet AN, AΣ, or ATT at mid-rapidity. Recent model calculations indicate the AN results may provide new limits on the gluon Sivers distribution in the proton. The asymmetry ALL significantly improves the knowledge of gluon polarization in the nucleon.