The new spin physics program of the COMPASS experiment

• Main Author: Silva Luís
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: EDP Sciences 2015-01-01
• Series: EPJ Web of Conferences
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/20159504063

The COMPASS experiment, at CERN SPS, has been compiling for more than a decade successful and precise results on nucleon structure and hadron spectroscopy, leading to statistical errors much smaller than previously measured. The new COMPASS spin physics program, starting this year, aims to a rather complete nucleon structure description; this new representation goes beyond the collinear approximation by including the quark intrinsic transverse momentum distributions. The theoretical framework, for this new picture of the nucleon, is given by the Transverse Momentum Dependent distributions (TMDs) and by the Generalised Parton Distributions (GPDs). The TMDs, in particular Sivers, Boer-Mulders, pretzelosity and transversity functions will be obtained through the polarised Drell-Yan process, for the first time. The results will be complementary to those already obtained via polarised Semi-Inclusive Deep Inelastic Scattering (SIDIS). Also unpolarised SIDIS will be studied, allowing the knowledge improvement of the strange quark PDF and the access to the kaon fragmentation functions (FFs). Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering (DVCS) off an unpolarised hydrogen target will be used to study the GPDs, in a kinematic region not yet covered by any existing experiment.