The Spin Structure of the Nucleon with HERMES

by Manuella Vincter (University Alberta, Canada)

Tuesday 8 May 2001, 16:30 → 17:30 Europe/Zurich

500/1-001 - Main Auditorium (CERN)

HERMES is a fixed target experiment based at the HERA storage ring, DESY. One of the primary goals of HERMES is a detailed investigation of the spin structure of the nucleon via polarized deep-inelastic scattering. The nucleon has a rich structure composed of valence and sea quarks as well as gluons. All of these components, including the orbital angular momentum of the partons, could in principle contribute to the spin _ of the proton. The quark helicities' contribution to the proton's spin, which is surprisingly small, is being measured precisely at HERMES. A first attempt is also made at determining the polarized gluon contribution, which is presently unknown. It has recently been suggested that the orbital angular momentum contribution may be accessed via exclusive processes such as pion production or Deeply-Virtual Compton Scattering. Such results will also be presented. HERMES is now embarking on the second stage of its spin physics program: measurements of quark transversity. A brief outlook on HERMES Run 2 will be presented.

Organiser(s): Jasper Kirkby / EP Division

Note: * Tea & coffee will be served at 16.00 hrs.