Polarised target for Drell-Yan experiment in COMPASS at CERN, part I

In the polarised Drell-Yan experiment at the COMPASS facility in CERN pion beam with momentum of 190 GeV/c and intensity about $10^8$ pions/s interacted with transversely polarised NH$_3$ target. Muon pairs produced in Drel-Yan process were detected. The measurement was done in 2015 as the 1st ever polarised Drell-Yan fixed target experiment. The hydrogen nuclei in the solid-state NH$_3$ were polarised by dynamic nuclear polarisation in 2.5 T field of large-acceptance superconducting magnet. Large helium dilution cryostat was used to cool the target down below 100 mK. Polarisation of hydrogen nuclei reached during the data taking was about 80 %. Two oppositely polarised target cells, each 55 cm long and 4 cm in diameter were used. Overview of COMPASS facility and the polarised target with emphasis on the dilution cryostat and magnet is given. Results of the polarisation measurement in the Drell-Yan run and overviews of the target material, cell and dynamic nuclear polarisation system are given in the part II.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, Proceedings of the 22nd International Spin Symposium, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA, 25-30 September 201

Nambu-Poisson manifolds and associated n-ary Lie algebroids

We introduce an n-ary Lie algebroid canonically associated with a Nambu-Poisson manifold. We also prove that every Nambu-Poisson bracket defined on functions is induced by some differential operator on the exterior algebra, and characterize such operators. Some physical examples are presented

Classical and Quantum Nambu Mechanics

The classical and quantum features of Nambu mechanics are analyzed and fundamental issues are resolved. The classical theory is reviewed and developed utilizing varied examples. The quantum theory is discussed in a parallel presentation, and illustrated with detailed specific cases. Quantization is carried out with standard Hilbert space methods. With the proper physical interpretation, obtained by allowing for different time scales on different invariant sectors of a theory, the resulting non-Abelian approach to quantum Nambu mechanics is shown to be fully consistent.Comment: 44 pages, 1 figure, 1 table Minor changes to conform to journal versio

The Schouten-Nijenhuis bracket, cohomology and generalized Poisson structures

Newly introduced generalized Poisson structures based on suitable skew-symmetric contravariant tensors of even order are discussed in terms of the Schouten-Nijenhuis bracket. The associated `Jacobi identities' are expressed as conditions on these tensors, the cohomological contents of which is given. In particular, we determine the linear generalized Poisson structures which can be constructed on the dual spaces of simple Lie algebras.Comment: 29 pages. Plain TeX. Phyzzx needed. An example and some references added. To appear in J. Phys.

Measurement of the charged-pion polarisability

The COMPASS collaboration at CERN has investigated pion Compton scattering, $\pi^-\gamma\rightarrow \pi^-\gamma$, at centre-of-mass energy below 3.5 pion masses. The process is embedded in the reaction $\pi^-\mathrm{Ni}\rightarrow\pi^-\gamma\;\mathrm{Ni}$, which is initiated by 190\,GeV pions impinging on a nickel target. The exchange of quasi-real photons is selected by isolating the sharp Coulomb peak observed at smallest momentum transfers, $Q^2<0.0015$\,(GeV/$c$)$^2$. From a sample of 63\,000 events the pion electric polarisability is determined to be $\alpha_\pi\ =\ (\,2.0\ \pm\ 0.6_{\mbox{\scriptsize stat}}\ \pm\ 0.7_{\mbox{\scriptsize syst}}\,) \times 10^{-4}\,\mbox{fm}^3$under the assumption$\alpha_\pi=-\beta_\pi$, which relates the electric and magnetic dipole polarisabilities. It is the most precise measurement of this fundamental low-energy parameter of strong interaction, that has been addressed since long by various methods with conflicting outcomes. While this result is in tension with previous dedicated measurements, it is found in agreement with the expectation from chiral perturbation theory. An additional measurement replacing pions by muons, for which the cross-section behavior is unambigiously known, was performed for an independent estimate of the systematic uncertainty.Comment: Published version: 9 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

Quark helicity distributions from longitudinal spin asymmetries in muon-proton and muon-deuteron scattering

Double-spin asymmetries for production of charged pions and kaons in semi-inclusive deep-inelastic muon scattering have been measured by the COMPASS experiment at CERN. The data, obtained by scattering a 160 GeV muon beam off a longitudinally polarised NH_3 target, cover a range of the Bjorken variable x between 0.004 and 0.7. A leading order evaluation of the helicity distributions for the three lightest quarks and antiquark flavours derived from these asymmetries and from our previous deuteron data is presented. The resulting values of the sea quark distributions are small and do not show any sizable dependence on x in the range of the measurements. No significant difference is observed between the strange and antistrange helicity distributions, both compatible with zero. The integrated value of the flavour asymmetry of the helicity distribution of the light-quark sea, \Delta u-bar - \Delta d-bar, is found to be slightly positive, about 1.5 standard deviations away from zero.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure

Measurement of the Longitudinal Spin Transfer to Lambda and Anti-Lambda Hyperons in Polarised Muon DIS

The longitudinal polarisation transfer from muons to lambda and anti-lambda hyperons, D_LL, has been studied in deep inelastic scattering off an unpolarised isoscalar target at the COMPASS experiment at CERN. The spin transfers to lambda and anti-lambda produced in the current fragmentation region exhibit different behaviours as a function of x and xF . The measured x and xF dependences of D^lambda_LL are compatible with zero, while D^anti-lambda_LL tends to increase with xF, reaching values of 0.4 - 0.5. The resulting average values are D^lambda_LL = -0.012 +- 0.047 +- 0.024 and D^anti-lambda_LL = 0.249 +- 0.056 +- 0.049. These results are discussed in the frame of recent model calculations.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure

Measurement of the Collins and Sivers asymmetries on transversely polarised protons

The Collins and Sivers asymmetries for charged hadrons produced in deeply inelastic scattering on transversely polarised protons have been extracted from the data collected in 2007 with the CERN SPS muon beam tuned at 160 GeV/c. At large values of the Bjorken x variable non-zero Collins asymmetries are observed both for positive and negative hadrons while the Sivers asymmetry for positive hadrons is slightly positive over almost all the measured x range. These results nicely support the present theoretical interpretation of these asymmetries, in terms of leading-twist quark distribution and fragmentation functions.Comment: 9 Pages, 5 figure

The COMPASS Experiment at CERN

The COMPASS experiment makes use of the CERN SPS high-intensitymuon and hadron beams for the investigation of the nucleon spin structure and the spectroscopy of hadrons. One or more outgoing particles are detected in coincidence with the incoming muon or hadron. A large polarized target inside a superconducting solenoid is used for the measurements with the muon beam. Outgoing particles are detected by a two-stage, large angle and large momentum range spectrometer. The setup is built using several types of tracking detectors, according to the expected incident rate, required space resolution and the solid angle to be covered. Particle identification is achieved using a RICH counter and both hadron and electromagnetic calorimeters. The setup has been successfully operated from 2002 onwards using a muon beam. Data with a hadron beam were also collected in 2004. This article describes the main features and performances of the spectrometer in 2004; a short summary of the 2006 upgrade is also given.Comment: 84 papes, 74 figure

Interplay among transversity induced asymmetries in hadron leptoproduction

In the fragmentation of a transversely polarized quark several left-right asymmetries are possible for the hadrons in the jet. When only one unpolarized hadron is selected, it exhibits an azimuthal modulation known as Collins effect. When a pair of oppositely charged hadrons is observed, three asymmetries can be considered, a di-hadron asymmetry and two single hadron asymmetries. In lepton deep inelastic scattering on transversely polarized nucleons all these asymmetries are coupled with the transversity distribution. From the high statistics COMPASS data on oppositely charged hadron-pair production we have investigated for the first time the dependence of these three asymmetries on the difference of the azimuthal angles of the two hadrons. The similarity of transversity induced single and di-hadron asymmetries is discussed. A new analysis of the data allows to establish quantitative relationships among them, providing for the first time strong experimental indication that the underlying fragmentation mechanisms are all driven by a common physical process.Comment: 6 figure