Possible studies of gluon transversity in the spin-1 deuteron at hadron-accelerator facilities

Abstract

Chiral-odd gluon transversity distribution could shed light on a new aspect of hadron physics. Although we had much progress recently on quark transversity distributions, there is no experimental measurement on the gluon transversity. The gluon trasversity does not exist in the spin-1/2 nucleons and it exists in the spin-1 deuteron. Therefore, it could probe new hadron physics in the deuteron beyond the basic bound system of a proton and a neutron because the nucleons cannot contribute directly. Here, we explain that the gluon transversity can be measured at hadron accelerator facilities, such as Fermilab and NICA, in addition to charged-lepton scattering measurements at lepton accelerator facilities by showing cross sections of the proton-deuteron Drell-Yan process as an example.