Transverse Single-Spin Asymmetry for Very Forward Neutral Pion Production in Polarized p plus p Collisions at root s=510 GeV

Abstract

Transverse single-spin asymmetries of very forward neutral pions generated in polarized p + p collisions allow us to understand the production mechanism in terms of perturbative and nonperturbative strong interactions. During 2017, the RHICf Collaboration installed an electromagnetic calorimeter in the zero-degree region of the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and measured neutral pions produced at pseudorapidity larger than 6 in polarized p + p collisions at root s = 510 GeV. The large nonzero asymmetries increasing both in longitudinal momentum fraction x(F) and transverse momentum p(T) have been observed at low transverse momentum p(T) < 1 GeV/c for the first time, at this collision energy. The asymmetries show an approximate x(F), scaling in the p(T) region where nonperturbative processes are expected to dominate. A non-negligible contribution from soft processes may be necessary to explain the nonzero neutral pion asymmetries.