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LHCSpin aims at installing a polarized gas target in front of the LHCb spectrometer, bringing, for the first time, polarized physics to the LHC. The project will benefit from the experience achieved with the installation of an unpolarized gas target at LHCb during the LHC Long Shutdown 2. LHCb will then become the first experiment simultaneously running in collider and fixed-target mode with polarized targets, opening a whole new range of explorations to its exceptional spectrometer. LHCSpin will offer a unique opportunity to probe polarized quark and gluon parton distributions in nucleons and nuclei, especially at high $x$ and intermediate $Q^2$, where experimental data are still largely missing. Beside standard collinear parton distribution functions (PDFs), LHCSpin will make it possible to study multidimensional polarized parton distributions that depend also on parton transverse momentum. The study of the multidimensional partonic structure of the nucleon, particularly including polarization effects, can test our knowledge of QCD at an unprecedented level of sophistication, both in the perturbative and nonperturbative regime. At the same time, an accurate knowledge of hadron structure is necessary for precision measurements of Standard Model (SM) observables and discovery of physics beyond the SM. Due to the intricate nature of the strong interaction, it is indispensable to perform the widest possible suite of experimental measurements. It will be ideal to have two new projects complementing each other: a new facility for polarized electron-proton collisions and a new facility for polarized proton-proton collisions. LHCSpin stands out at the moment as the most promising candidate for the second type of project, going beyond the kinematic coverage and the accuracy of the existent experiments, especially on the heavy-quark sector.

We present the complete cross-section for the production of unpolarized hadrons in semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering up to power-suppressed ${\cal O}(1/Q^2)$ terms in the Wandzura--Wilczek-type approximation which consists in systematically assuming that $\bar{q}gq$--terms are much smaller than $\bar{q}q$--correlators. We compute all twist-2 and twist-3 structure functions and the corresponding asymmetries, and discuss the applicability of the Wandzura--Wilczek-type approximations on the basis of available data. We make predictions that can be tested by data from Jefferson Lab, COMPASS, HERMES, and the future Electron-Ion Collider. The results of this paper can be readily used for phenomenology and for event generators, and will help to improve our understanding of the TMD theory beyond leading twist., Comment: Published in JHEP, 71 pages, 21 figures, references updated, discussion improved

AFTER@LHC is an ambitious fixed-target project in order to address open questions in the domain of proton and neutron spins, Quark Gluon Plasma and high-$x$ physics, at the highest energy ever reached in the fixed-target mode. Indeed, thanks to the highly energetic 7 TeV proton and 2.76 A.TeV lead LHC beams, center-of-mass energies as large as $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 115 GeV in pp/pA and $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 72 GeV in AA can be reached, corresponding to an uncharted energy domain between SPS and RHIC. We report two main ways of performing fixed-target collisions at the LHC, both allowing for the usage of one of the existing LHC experiments. In these proceedings, after discussing the projected luminosities considered for one year of data taking at the LHC, we will present a selection of projections for light and heavy-flavour production., Comment: Proceeding of SQM2017 conference

We discuss the potential of AFTER@LHC to measure single-transverse-spin asymmetries in open-charm and bottomonium production. With a HERMES-like hydrogen polarised target, such measurements over a year can reach precisions close to the per cent level. This is particularly remarkable since these analyses can probably not be carried out anywhere else, Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, 1 table. LaTeX, uses PoS.cls (included). Contribution to the proceedings of the XXIV International Workshop on Deep-Inelastic Scattering and Related Subject - DIS 2016, 11-15 April 2016, DESY Hamburg, Germany

We review a number of ideas put forward in favour of the use of a polarised target along with the proposed idea of a fixed-target experiment using the LHC beams -- AFTER@LHC. A number of recent studies have shown that single transverse-spin asymmetries (STSAs) are large enough to be precisely measured in the region accessible with AFTER@LHC, in particular as regards the Drell-Yan process as well as single-pion, isolated-photon and jet production. AFTER@LHC with a polarised target would also be the ideal experimental set-up to measure the gluon Sivers effect via a number of original quarkonium STSA studies. We discuss first figures-of-merit based on simulations for AFTER@LHC with a polarised target., Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, LaTeX. Proceedings of the XVIth International Workshop in Polarized Sources, Targets, and Polarimetry, PSTP2015, 14-18 September 2015, Bochum, Germany

We report on the studies of Transverse-Momentum-Dependent distributions (TMDs) at a future fixed-target experiment --AFTER@LHC-- using the $p^+$ or Pb ion LHC beams, which would be the most energetic fixed-target experiment ever performed. AFTER@LHC opens new domains of particle and nuclear physics by complementing collider-mode experiments, in particular those of RHIC and the EIC projects. Both with an extracted beam by a bent crystal or with an internal gas target, the luminosity achieved by AFTER@LHC surpasses that of RHIC by up to 3 orders of magnitude. With an unpolarised target, it allows for measurements of TMDs such as the Boer-Mulders quark distributions and the distribution of unpolarised and linearly polarised gluons in unpolarised protons. Using polarised targets, one can access the quark and gluon Sivers TMDs through single transverse-spin asymmetries in Drell-Yan and quarkonium production. In terms of kinematics, the fixed-target mode combined with a detector covering $\eta_{\rm lab} \in [1,5]$ allows one to measure these asymmetries at large $x^\uparrow$ in the polarised nucleon., Comment: Symposium SPIN2014, Beijing

We analyze the longitudinal-transverse double-spin asymmetry in lepton-nucleon collisions where a single hadron is detected in the final state, i.e., $\vec{\ell}\,N^\uparrow \rightarrow h\,X$. This is a subleading-twist observable in collinear factorization, and we look at twist-3 effects in both the transversely polarized nucleon and the unpolarized outgoing hadron. Results are anticipated for this asymmetry from both HERMES and Jefferson Lab Hall A, and it could be measured as well at COMPASS and a future Electron-Ion Collider. We also perform a numerical study of the distribution term, which, when compared to upcoming experimental results, could allow one to learn about the "worm-gear"-type function $\tilde{g}(x)$ as well as assess the role of quark-gluon-quark correlations in the initial-state nucleon and twist-3 effects in the fragmenting unpolarized hadron., Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, minor changes to the text, version to appear in Phys. Lett. B

We report on the opportunities for spin physics and Transverse-Momentum Dependent distribution (TMD) studies at a future multi-purpose fixed-target experiment using the proton or lead ion LHC beams extracted by a bent crystal. The LHC multi-TeV beams allow for the most energetic fixed-target experiments ever performed, opening new domains of particle and nuclear physics and complementing that of collider physics, in particular that of RHIC and the EIC projects. The luminosity achievable with AFTER@LHC using typical targets would surpass that of RHIC by more that 3 orders of magnitude in a similar energy region. In unpolarised proton-proton collisions, AFTER@LHC allows for measurements of TMDs such as the Boer-Mulders quark distributions, the distribution of unpolarised and linearly polarised gluons in unpolarised protons. Using the polarisation of hydrogen and nuclear targets, one can measure transverse single-spin asymmetries of quark and gluon sensitive probes, such as, respectively, Drell-Yan pair and quarkonium production. The fixed-target mode has the advantage to allow for measurements in the target-rapidity region, namely at large x^uparrow in the polarised nucleon. Overall, this allows for an ambitious spin program which we outline here., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, LaTeX. Proceedings of the Fourth International Workshop on Transverse Polarisation Phenomena in Hard Processes (Transversity 2014), 9-13 June, 2013, Chia, Italy

Generalized transverse-momentum dependent parton distributions (GTMDs) encode the most general parton structure of hadrons. Here we focus on two twist-2 GTMDs which are denoted by $F_{1,4}$ and $G_{1,1}$ in parts of the literature. As already shown previously, both GTMDs have a close relation to orbital angular momentum of partons inside a hadron. However, recently even the mere existence of $F_{1,4}$ and $G_{1,1}$ has been doubted. We explain why this claim does not hold. We support our model-independent considerations by calculating the two GTMDs in the scalar diquark model and in the quark-target model, where we also explicitly check the relation to orbital angular momentum. In addition, we compute $F_{1,4}$ and $G_{1,1}$ at large transverse momentum in perturbative Quantum Chromodynamics and show that they are nonzero., Comment: 29 pages, 6 figures; two clarifications and a reference added; version to appear in Phys. Rev. D

We study the production of two almost back-to-back hadrons from the annihilation of an electron and a positron, allowing for the polarization of all particles involved. In particular, we conduct a general (model-independent) structure function decomposition of the cross section for the case $e^+e^- \to \gamma^* \to h_ah_bX$. Moreover, using the parton model we calculate the relevant structure functions in terms of twist-2 transverse momentum dependent (TMD) fragmentation functions (FFs). We also give results for the situation $e^+e^- \to Z^* \to h_ah_bX$ (including $\gamma$-$Z$ interference) within this model. This is the first time a complete framework has been presented for the examination of TMD FFs within $e^+e^-\to h_ah_bX$. We also specify certain parts of our analysis that hold for the triple-polarized semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering process and for di-hadron fragmentation. Furthermore, we give an explicit prescription of how our work can be translated to the Drell-Yan reaction, which provides for the first time full results for double-polarized Drell-Yan that include electroweak effects. We further discuss the relevance of our $e^+e^-\to h_ah_bX$ results for future experiments at $e^+e^-$ machines., Comment: 29 pages, 5 figures, Version to appear in Phys. Rev. D

In this paper we present a comprehensive formalism for dilepton production from the collision of two polarized spin-$\tfrac{1}{2}$ hadrons by identifying the general angular distribution of the cross section in combination with a complete set of structure functions. The various structure functions are computed in the parton model approximation where we mainly consider the case when the transverse momentum of the dilepton pair is much smaller than its invariant mass. In this kinematical region dilepton production can be described in terms of transverse momentum dependent parton distributions., Comment: references added, minor stylistic changes, to appear in PRD

In inclusive deep-inelastic lepton-hadron scattering multi-photon exchange between the leptonic and the hadronic part of the process causes single spin asymmetries. The asymmetries exist for a polarized target as well as a polarized incoming or outgoing lepton, if the polarization vector has a component transverse with respect to the reaction plane. The spin dependent parts of the single polarized cross sections are suppressed like $\alpha_{em} m_{pol}/Q$ - where $m_{pol}$ denotes the mass of the polarized particle - compared to the leading terms of the cross section for unpolarized or double-polarized deep-inelastic scattering. Both the target and the beam spin asymmetry are evaluated in the parton model. In the calculation only quark-quark correlators are included. While this approximation turns out to be justified for the lepton spin asymmetries, it is not sufficient for the target asymmetry., Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure, minor changes, final version, to appear in Phys. Lett. B

The general parameterization of the quark-quark correlation function for a spin-1/2 hadron is considered. The presence of the Wilson line ensuring color gauge invariance of the correlator induces structures that were not given explicitly in the existing literature. In particular, the general form of the transverse momentum dependent correlator entering various hard scattering processes is derived. In this case two new time-reversal odd parton distributions appear at the twist-3 level., Comment: 8 pages

Over the past years a lot of progress has been made in the understanding of single spin asymmetries in hard scattering processes. We briefly review this subject, covering the non-vanishing of time-reversal odd parton distributions, universality of fragmentation functions, and the discovery of previously unknown time-reversal odd parton distributions at subleading twist. Interestingly enough, all these developments were initiated by simple model calculations., Comment: 10 pages, contribution to the Festschrift on the occasion of Klaus Goeke's 60th birthday; references added

The single spin asymmetries for a longitudinally polarized lepton beam or a longitudinally polarized nucleon target in semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering are twist-3 observables. We study these asymmetries in a simple diquark spectator model of the nucleon. Analogous to the case of transverse target polarization, non-vanishing asymmetries are generated by gluon exchange between the struck quark and the target system. It is pointed out that the coupling of the virtual photon to the diquark is needed in order to preserve electromagnetic gauge invariance at the twist-3 level. The calculation indicates that previous analyses of these observables are incomplete., Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, minor changes, version to appear in EPJA