Spin dependence of massive lepton pair production in proton-proton collisions

Journal Article · Sat Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 2000 · Physical Review. D, Particles Fields

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.62.014014· OSTI ID:20216965

Berger, Edmond L ^[1]; Gordon, Lionel E ^[2]; Klasen, Michael ^[1]

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1. High Energy Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439 (United States)
2. Jefferson Laboratory, Newport News, Virginia 23606 (United States)

We calculate the transverse momentum distribution for the production of massive lepton pairs in longitudinally polarized proton-proton reactions at collider energies within the context of perturbative quantum chromodynamics. For values of the transverse momentum Q{sub T} greater than roughly half the pair mass Q, Q{sub T}>Q/2, we show that the differential cross section is dominated by subprocesses initiated by incident gluons, provided that the polarized gluon density is not too small. Massive lepton-pair differential cross sections should be a good source of independent constraints on the polarized gluon density, free from the experimental and theoretical complications of photon isolation that beset studies of prompt photon production. We provide predictions for the spin-averaged and spin-dependent differential cross sections as a function of Q{sub T} at energies relevant for the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven, and we compare these with predictions for real prompt photon production. (c) 2000 The American Physical Society.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL
• OSTI ID: 20216965
• Journal Information: Physical Review. D, Particles Fields, Journal Name: Physical Review. D, Particles Fields Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 62; ISSN PRVDAQ; ISSN 0556-2821
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
LEPTONS
PERTURBATION THEORY
POLARIZATION
PROTON-PROTON INTERACTIONS
QUANTUM CHROMODYNAMICS
THEORETICAL DATA
TRANSVERSE MOMENTUM