Measurement of parity-violating spin asymmetries in W ± production at midrapidity in longitudinally polarized p +p collisions MEASUREMENT of PARITY-VIOLATING SPIN ... A. ADARE et al.

(PHENIX Collaboration)

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35 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present midrapidity measurements from the PHENIX experiment of large parity-violating single-spin asymmetries of high transverse momentum electrons and positrons from W±/Z decays, produced in longitudinally polarized p+p collisions at center of mass energies of s=500 and 510 GeV. These asymmetries allow direct access to the antiquark polarized parton distribution functions due to the parity-violating nature of the W-boson coupling to quarks and antiquarks. The results presented are based on data collected in 2011, 2012, and 2013 with an integrated luminosity of 240 pb-1, which exceeds previous PHENIX published results by a factor of more than 27. These high Q2 data probe the parton structure of the proton at W mass scale and provide an important addition to our understanding of the antiquark parton helicity distribution functions at an intermediate Bjorken x value of roughly MW/s=0.16.

Original languageEnglish
Article number051103
JournalPhysical Review D
Volume93
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - 23 Mar 2016
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Nuclear and High Energy Physics

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