Search

Physical review / D 105(9), 094025 (2022). doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.105.094025, We develop the analysis of diphoton exclusive photoproduction in the kinematics where a collinear QCD factorization framework applies, namely nearly forward large invariant mass diphoton production. We work at the leading twist level and at the next-to-leading order (NLO) in the strong coupling constant $\alpha_S$. We compare our predictions for cross sections with Born order calculations for the experimental conditions accessible to JLab experiments and show the interesting sensitivity of our results to various models of generalized parton distributions (GPDs). The NLO corrections are rather large and negative but do not prevent the studied reaction from being a promising tool for the extraction of C–odd GPDs, which do not contribute to either spacelike or timelike deeply virtual Compton scattering amplitudes., Published by Inst., Melville, NY

The strong force which binds hadrons is described by the theory of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). Determining the character and manifestations of QCD is one of the most important and challenging outstanding issues necessary for a comprehensive understanding of the structure of hadrons. Within the context of the QCD parton picture, the Parton Distribution Functions (PDFs) have been remarkably successful in describing a wide variety of processes. However, these PDFs have generally been confined to the description of collinear partons within the hadron. New experiments and facilities provide the opportunity to additionally explore the transverse structure of hadrons which is described by Generalized Parton Distributions (GPDs) and Transverse Momentum Dependent Parton Distribution Functions (TMD PDFs). In our previous review, we compared and contrasted the two main approaches used to determine the collinear PDFs: the first based on perturbative QCD factorization theorems, and the second based on lattice QCD calculations. In the present report, we provide an update of recent progress on the collinear PDFs, and also expand the scope to encompass the generalized PDFs (GPDs and TMD PDFs). We review the current state of the various calculations, and consider what new data might be available in the near future. We also examine how a shared effort can foster dialog between the PDF and Lattice QCD communities, and yield improvements for these generalized PDFs., 2020 PDFLattice Report, 64 pages, 34 figures

We describe an implementation of a subtraction scheme in the nonrelativistic-QCD treatment of heavy-quarkonium production at next-to-leading-order in the strong-coupling constant, covering $S$- and $P$-wave bound states. It is based on the dipole subtraction in the massless version by Catani and Seymour and its extension to massive quarks by Phaf and Weinzierl. Important additions include the treatment of heavy-quark bound states, in particular due to the more complicated infrared-divergence structure in the case of $P$-wave states., 29 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables, 3 formulas added, corrections and minor changes included, accepted for publication in Nucl. Phys. B

We investigate associated prompt photon and hadronic jet production at the LHC energies using the $k_T$-factorization approach. Our consideration is based on the $\mathcal O(\alpha\alpha_s^2)$ off-shell gluon-gluon fusion subprocess $g^*g^*\to \gamma q\bar q$ and several subleading quark-initiated contributions from $\mathcal O(\alpha\alpha_s)$ and $\mathcal O(\alpha\alpha_s^2)$ subprocesses, taken into account in the conventional (collinear) QCD factorization. The transverse momentum dependent (or unintegrated) gluon densities in a proton are derived from Catani-Ciafaloni-Fiorani-Marchesini (CCFM) evolution equation. We achieve reasonably good agreement with the experimental data taken by CMS and ATLAS Collaborations and demonstrate the importance of initial state parton showers for jet determination in the $k_T$-factorization approach., Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1708.07079

Based on the hypothesis that the $X(3872)$ exotic hadron is a mixture of $\chi_{c1}(2P)$ and other states and that its prompt hadroproduction predominately proceeds via its $\chi_{c1}(2P)$ component, we calculate the prompt-$X(3872)$ polarization at the CERN LHC through next-to-leading order in $\alpha_s$ within the factorization formalism of nonrelativistic QCD, including both the color-singlet $^3\!P_1^{[1]}$ and color-octet $^3\!S_1^{[8]}$ $c\bar c$ Fock states. We also consider the polarization of the $J/\psi$ produced by the subsequent $X(3872)$ decay. We predict that, under ATLAS, CMS, and LHCb experimental conditions, the $X(3872)$ is largely longitudinally polarized, while the $J/\psi$ is largely transversely polarized. We propose that the LHC experiments perform such polarization measurements to pin down the nature of the $X(3872)$ and other $X$, $Y$, $Z$ exotic states with non-zero spin., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, matches journal version

Physical review / D D 101(3), 034022 (2020). doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.101.034022, We consider the associated production of electroweak gauge bosons and charm or beauty quark jets at the LHC using the kT-factorization framework. We apply the transverse momentum dependent (TMD) parton distributions in a proton obtained from the parton branching (PB) method as well as from the Catani-Ciafaloni-Fiorani-Marchesini (CCFM) evolution equation. For the PB approach, our prescription merges the standard leading order O(ααs) kT-factorization calculations with several tree-level next-to-leading order O(ααs2) off-shell production amplitudes. For the CCFM scenario, our consideration is based on the O(ααs2) off-shell gluon-gluon fusion subprocess g*g*→Z/W+QQ¯ and some O(ααs2) subprocesses involving quark interactions, taken into account in conventional (collinear) QCD factorization. We find that the W+c and Z+b cross sections, calculated within the PB and CCFM-based schemes with the proper choice of leading and next-to-leading subprocesses, are in good agreement with each other, thus establishing a correspondence between these two scenarios. A comparison with the latest LHC experimental data is given and the necessity for the proper off-shell treatment of the production amplitudes in determination of the parameters of the TMD parton density is demonstrated., Published by Inst.302363, Melville, NY

We study $J/\psi$ and $\eta_c$ inclusive production in $\Upsilon$ decay within the framework of nonrelativistic-QCD (NRQCD) factorization. In the latter case, for which no experimental data exist so far, we also include the $h_c$ feed-down contribution. We calculate the short distance coefficients completely through $\mathcal{O}(\alpha_s^5)$. The NRQCD predictions for the branching fraction $\mathcal{B}(\Upsilon\to J/\psi+X)$ via direct production, evaluated with different sets of long-distance matrix elements (LDMEs), all agree with the experimental data in a reasonable range of renormalization scale. Using $\eta_c$ and $h_c$ LDMEs obtained from $J/\psi$ and $\chi_c$ ones via heavy-quark spin symmetry, we find that the bulk of $\mathcal{B}(\Upsilon\to\eta_c+X)$ via prompt production arises from the $c\bar{c}({}^3\!S_1^{[8]})$ Fock state. The experimental study of this decay process would, therefore, provide a particularly clean probe of the color octet mechanism of heavy-quarkonium production., Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, 5 tables; text, appendix and reference added, typos corrected; matches journal version

We derive the two-loop evolution equation of the B-meson light-cone distribution amplitude which is the last missing element for the next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic resummation of QCD corrections to B decays in QCD factorization. We argue that the evolution kernel to all orders in perturbation theory can be written as a logarithm of the generator of special conformal transformations times the cusp anomalous dimension, up to a scheme-dependent overall constant. Up to this constant term, the evolution kernel to a given order in perturbation theory can be obtained from the calculation of special conformal anomaly at one order less., Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure

We investigate the inclusive Higgs boson production in proton-proton collisions at the CERN LHC conditions using the $\mathrm{k_t}$-factorization approach. Our analysis is based on the dominant off-shell gluon-gluon fusion subprocess (where the transverse momenta of initial gluons are taken into account) and covers $H → γγ, H→ZZ* → 4l$ (where $l=e, μ$) and $H → W^{+}W^{-} → e^{±}μ^{∓}ν\bar{ν}$ decay channels. The transverse momentum dependent (or unintegrated) gluon densities in a proton were derived from Ciafaloni-Catani-Fiorani-Marchesini equation, which resums large logarithmic terms proportional to $lns∼ln1/x$, important at high energies. As an alternative choice, we apply the Kimber-Martin-Ryskin prescription, where the transverse momentum dependent gluon density is constructed from the known conventional parton distributions. We estimate the theoretical uncertainties of our calculations and compare our results with next-to-next-to-leading-order plus next-to-next-to-leading-logarithmic ones obtained using collinear QCD factorization. Our predictions agree well with the latest experimental data taken by the CMS and ATLAS Collaborations at $\sqrt{s}$ = 8 and 13 TeV.

The H1(e,e′K+)Λ reaction was studied as a function of the Mandelstam variable -t using data from the E01-004 (FPI-2) and E93-018 experiments that were carried out in Hall C at the 6 GeV Jefferson Laboratory. The cross section was fully separated into longitudinal and transverse components, and two interference terms at four-momentum transfers Q2 of 1.00, 1.36, and 2.07GeV2. The kaon form factor was extracted from the longitudinal cross section using the Regge model by Vanderhaeghen et al. [Phys. Rev. C 57, 1454 (1998)PRVCAN0556-281310.1103/PhysRevC.57.1454]. The results establish the method, previously used successfully for pion analyses, for extracting the kaon form factor. Data from 12 GeV Jefferson Laboratory experiments are expected to have sufficient precision to distinguish between theoretical predictions, for example, recent perturbative QCD calculations with modern parton distribution amplitudes. The leading-twist behavior for light mesons is predicted to set in for values of Q2 between 5 and 10GeV2, which makes data in the few-GeV regime particularly interesting. The Q2 dependence at fixed x and -t of the longitudinal cross section that we extracted seems consistent with the QCD factorization prediction within the experimental uncertainty.

We consider the associated production of $J/\psi$ mesons and muons originating from the $b$-flavored hadron decays and non-prompt double $J/\psi$ production at the LHC using the $k_T$-factorization approach. To describe the inclusive $b$-hadron decays into the different charmonium states we apply fragmentation approach and adopt fragmentation functions based on the non-relativistic QCD factorization. The transverse momentum dependent (TMD) gluon densities in a proton are determined using the Catani-Ciafaloni-Fiorani-Marchesini equation and Kimber-Martin-Ryskin prescription. We investigate the effects coming from parton showers, estimate the double parton scattering contribution and compare our predictions with the first experimental data taken by the ATLAS and LHCb Collaborations at $\sqrt s = 8$~TeV. These data can serve as an additional test for TMD gluon density function in a proton., Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures

We study the production of a tensor glueball in the reaction $\gamma\gamma\rightarrow G_2\pi^0$. We compute the cross section at higher momentum transfer using the collinear factorisation approach. We find that for a value of the tensor gluon coupling of $f^T_g\sim 100$~MeV, the cross section can be measured in the near future by the Belle~II experiment., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures

We consider the production of $Z$ bosons associated with beauty quarks at the LHC using a combined $k_T$ + collinear QCD factorization approach, that interpolates between small $x$ and large $x$ physics. Our consideration is based on the off-shell gluon-gluon fusion subprocess $g^* g^* \to Z Q\bar Q$ at the leading order ${\cal O}(\alpha\alpha_s^2)$ (where the $Z$ boson further decays into a lepton pair), calculated in the $k_T$-factorization approach, and several subleading ${\cal O}(\alpha \alpha_s^2 )$ and ${\cal O}(\alpha \alpha_s^3 )$ subprocesses involving quark-antiquark and quark-gluon interactions, taken into account in conventional (collinear) QCD factorization. The contributions from double parton scattering are discussed as well. The transverse momentum dependent (or unintegrated) gluon densities in a proton are derived from Catani-Ciafaloni-Fiorani-Marchesini (CCFM) evolution equation. We achieve reasonably good agreement with the latest data taken by CMS and ATLAS Collaborations. The comparison of our results with next-to-leading-order pQCD predictions, obtained in the collinear QCD factorization, is presented. We discuss the uncertainties of our calculations and demonstrate the importance of subleading quark involving contributions in describing the LHC data in the whole kinematic region., Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures

We investigate the inclusive Higgs boson production in proton-proton collisions at the CERN LHC conditions using the $k_T$-factorization approach. Our analysis is based on the dominant off-shell gluon-gluon fusion subprocess (where the transverse momenta of initial gluons are taken into account) and covers $H \to \gamma \gamma$, $H \to ZZ^* \to 4l$ (where $l = e,\mu$) and $H \to W^+ W^- \to e^\pm \mu^\mp \nu \bar \nu$ decay channels. The transverse momentum dependent (or unintegrated) gluon densities in a proton were derived from Ciafaloni-Catani-Fiorani-Marchesini equation or, alternatively, were chosen in accordance with Kimber-Martin-Ryskin prescription. We estimate the theoretical uncertainties of our calculations and compare our results with next-to-next-to-leading-order plus next-to-next-to-leading-logarithmic ones obtained using collinear QCD factorization. Our predictions agree well with the latest experimental data taken by the CMS and ATLAS Collaborations at $\sqrt s = 8$ and $13$~TeV., Comment: 22 pages, 8 figures

We consider the production of $J/\psi$ and $\psi(2S)$ mesons originating from the decays of $b$-flavored hadrons at the LHC using the $k_T$-factorization approach. Our analysis covers both inclusive charmonia production and production of $J/\psi$ mesons in association with $Z$ bosons. We apply the transverse momentum dependent (or unintegrated) gluon density in a proton derived from Catani-Ciafaloni-Fiorani-Marchesini (CCFM) evolution equation and adopt fragmentation functions based on the non-relativistic QCD factorization to describe the inclusive $b$-hadron decays into the different charmonium states. Our predictions agree well with latest experimental data taken by the CMS, ATLAS and LHCb Collaborations at $\sqrt s = 7$, $8$ and $13$~TeV. The contributions from double parton scattering to the associated non-prompt $J/\psi + Z$ production are estimated and found to be small., Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures

We consider the production of $Z$ bosons associated with beauty quarks at the LHC in the framework of $k_T$-factorization approach. Our consideration is based on the off-shell gluon-gluon fusion subprocess $g^* g^* \to Z Q\bar Q$ at the leading order ${\cal O}(\alpha\alpha_s^2)$ (where the $Z$ boson further decays into a lepton pair) and several subleading ${\cal O}(\alpha \alpha_s^2 )$ and ${\cal O}(\alpha \alpha_s^3 )$ subprocesses involving quark-antiquark and quark-gluon interactions, taken into account in the conventional (collinear) QCD factorization. The contributions from double parton scattering are discussed as well. The transverse momentum dependent (or unintegrated) gluon densities in a proton are derived from Catani-Ciafaloni-Fiorani-Marchesini (CCFM) evolution equation. We achieve reasonably good agreement with the latest data taken by CMS and ATLAS Collaborations. The comparison of our results with next-to-leading-order pQCD predictions, obtained in the collinear QCD factorization, is presented. We discuss the uncertainties of our calculations and demonstrate the importance of subleading quark involving contributions in describing the LHC data in the whole kinematic region.

General formulations of QCD factorization for hadronic collisions extend the notion of ordinary parton distributions to transverse-momentum dependent (TMD) parton density and parton decay functions. We discuss the use of the recent high-precision deep-inelastic scattering (DIS) measurements for determination of TMD distributions. These are relevant for both low-p(T) and high-p(T) physics in hadron collisions. We comment on applications to multi-jet final states associated with electroweak gauge boson production at the LHC.

An essential part of high-energy hadronic collisions is the soft hadronic activity that underlies the primary hard interaction. It includes soft radiation from the primary hard partons, secondary multiple parton interactions (MPI), and factorization-violating effects. The invariant mass spectrum of the leading jet in $Z$+jet and $H$+jet events is directly sensitive to these effects, and we use a QCD factorization theorem to predict its dependence on the jet radius $R$, jet $p_T$, jet rapidity, and partonic process for both the perturbative and nonperturbative components of primary soft radiation. We prove that the nonperturbative contributions involve only odd powers of $R$, and the linear $R$ term is universal for quark and gluon jets. The hadronization model in PYTHIA8 agrees well with these properties. The perturbative soft initial state radiation (ISR) has a contribution that depends on the jet area in the same way as the underlying event, but this degeneracy is broken by dependence on the jet $p_T$. The size of this soft ISR contribution is proportional to the color state of the initial partons, yielding the same positive contribution for $gg\to Hg$ and $gq\to Zq$, but a negative interference contribution for $q\bar q\to Z g$. Hence, measuring these dependencies allows one to separate hadronization, soft ISR, and MPI contributions in the data., 11 pages, 11 figures, v2: PRL version, text rearranged

We perform a complete study of prompt double $J/\psi$ hadroproduction at leading order in the nonrelativistic-QCD factorization framework by including all possible pairings of the $c\bar{c}$ Fock states ${}^1\!S_0^{[8]}$, ${}^3\!S_1^{[1,8]}$, and ${}^3\!P_J^{[1,8]}$ with $J=0,1,2$. We find that the ${}^1\!S_0^{[8]}$ and ${}^3\!P_J^{[8]}$ channels of $J/\psi$ and $\psi^\prime$ production and the ${}^3\!P_J^{[1]}$ and ${}^3\!S_1^{[8]}$ channels of $\chi_{cJ}$ production, which have been overlooked so far, greatly dominate at large invariant masses and rapidity separations of the $J/\psi$ pair, and that their inclusion nearly fills the large gap between previous incomplete predictions within the color-singlet model and the recent measurement by the CMS Collaboration at the CERN LHC, leaving room for next-to-leading-order corrections of typical size., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, matches journal version

Using data samples of $102\times10^6$ $\Upsilon(1S)$ and $158\times10^6$ $\Upsilon(2S)$ events collected with the Belle detector, a first experimental search has been made for double-charmonium production in the exclusive decays $\Upsilon(1S,2S)\rightarrow J/\psi(\psi')+X$, where $X=\eta_c$, $\chi_{cJ} (J=~0,~1,~2)$, $\eta_c(2S)$, $X(3940)$, and $X(4160)$. No significant signal is observed in the spectra of the mass recoiling against the reconstructed $J/\psi$ or $\psi'$ except for the evidence of $\chi_{c1}$ production with a significance of $4.6\sigma$ for $\Upsilon(1S)\rightarrow J/\psi+\chi_{c1}$. The measured branching fraction $\BR(\Upsilon(1S)\rightarrow J/\psi+\chi_{c1})$ is $(3.90\pm1.21(\rm stat.)\pm0.23 (\rm syst.))\times10^{-6}$. The $90\%$ confidence level upper limits on the branching fractions of the other modes having a significance of less than $3\sigma$ are determined. These results are consistent with theoretical calculations using the nonrelativistic QCD factorization approach., Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. The fit range was extended to include X(4160) signal according to referee's suggestions. Other results unchanged. Paper was accepted for publication as a regular article in Physical Review D

We systematically calculate the relativistic corrections to prompt $J/\psi$ photoproduction and hadroproduction using the factorization formalism of nonrelativistic QCD. Specifically, we include the ${}^3\!S_1^{[1]}$ and ${}^3\!P_{J}^{[1]}$ color-singlet and the ${}^3\!S_1^{[8]}$, ${}^1\!S_{0}^{[8]}$, and ${}^3\!P_{J}^{[8]}$ color-octet channels as well as the effects due to the mixing between the ${}^3\!S_1^{[8]}$ and ${}^3\!D_1^{[8]}$ channels. We provide all the squared hard-scattering amplitudes in analytic form. Assuming the nonrelativistic-QCD long-distance matrix elements to satisfy the velocity scaling rules, we find the relativistic corrections to be appreciable, except in the ${}^3\!S_1^{[1]}$ color-singlet channel of hadroproduction. We also observe significant differences in the line shapes of the relativistic corrections between photoproduction and hadroproduction., Comment: 26 pages, 3 figures, matches journal version

We extend our original study in Ref. [1] on the production of $C=+$ charmonium states $X=\eta_c(1S/2S)$ and $\chi_{cJ}(1P/2P)$ in $e^+e^-\to\gamma~+~X$ at B factories to the BEPCII/BESIII energy region with $\sqrt{s}=4.0\mbox{-}5.0$ GeV. In the framework of nonrelativistic QCD factorization, the cross sections are estimated to be as large as $0.1\mbox{-}0.9$ pb. The results could be used to search for the missing $2P$ charmonium states or to estimate the continuum backgrounds in the resonance region., Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures

Using data samples of $102×{10}^{6}$ $\mathrm{\Upsilon }\left(1S\right)$ and $158×{10}^{6}$ $\mathrm{\Upsilon }\left(2S\right)$ events collected with the Belle detector, a first experimental search has been made for double-charmonium production in the exclusive decays $\mathrm{\Upsilon }\left(1S,2S\right)\to J/\psi \left({\psi }^{\prime }\right)+X$, where $X={\eta }_{c}$, ${\chi }_{cJ}\left(J=0,1,2\right)$, ${\eta }_{c}\left(2S\right)$, $X\left(3940\right)$, and $X\left(4160\right)$. No significant signal is observed in the spectra of the mass recoiling against the reconstructed $J/\psi $ or ${\psi }^{\prime }$ except for the evidence of ${\chi }_{c1}$ production with a significance of $4.6\sigma $ for $\mathrm{\Upsilon }\left(1S\right)\to J/\psi +{\chi }_{c1}$. The measured branching fraction $\mathcal{B}\left(\mathrm{\Upsilon }\left(1S\right)\to J/\psi +{\chi }_{c1}\right)$ is $\left[3.90±1.21\left(\text{stat}\right)±0.23\left(\text{syst}\right)\right]×{10}^{-6}$. The 90% C.L. upper limits on the branching fractions of the other modes having a significance of less than $3\sigma $ are determined. These results are consistent with theoretical calculations using the nonrelativistic QCD factorization approach.

The combined measurements of proton's structure functions in deeply inelastic scattering at the HERA collider provide high-precision data capable of constraining parton density functions over a wide range of the kinematic variables. We perform fits to these data using transverse momentum dependent QCD factorization and CCFM evolution. The results of the fits to precision measurements are used to make a determination of the nonperturbative transverse momentum dependent gluon density function, including experimental and theoretical uncertainties. We present an application of this density function to vector boson + jet production processes at the LHC., 20 pages, 9 figures. v2: added comments, corrected typos; results unchanged

Over its first twelve years, the PHENIX experiment has studied the spin structure of the proton, cold nuclear matter (CNM) in d+Au and discovered a strongly coupled quark gluon plasma in Au+Au collisions. We present the near- and long-term upgrades planned for PHENIX. The MPC-EX, a preshower for the forward calorimeter, is expected to be installed by 2014. A larger upgrade of PHENIX, envisions replacing the central arm with a compact jet detector, as well as adding a forward arm spectrometer to study the source of large single spin asymmetries in $p^{\uparrow}+p$ collisions, as well as measure Drell-Yan, to study both the proton spin structure and CNM effects in d+Au collision., Proc. of DIS 2012, 1047 - 1050; DESY-PROC-2012-02; ISSN 1435-8077

Wir präsentieren die Analyse der Daten, die in den Jahren 2002-2004 mit dem 27.56 GeV Positronenstrahl des HERA Speicherrings am DESY und dem internen transversal polarisierten Wasserstofftarget (''fixed target'') des HERMES Experiments aufgenommen wurden. Ereignisse mit einem gestreuten Positron und einem erzeugter Pion wurden selektiert. Die ausschließliche Erzeugung eines einzelnen Pions, e p -> e'' n pi+, wird durch die Anforderung gewährleistet, daß die fehlende Masse des Ereignisses der Masse des Neutrons, das nicht gemessen wird, entspricht. Der Streuquerschnitt für diesen Prozess hängt von der Bjorken-Skalenvariable, den Vierer-Impulsübertrag und den Transversalimpulsübertrag, deren durchschnittliche Werte für unsere Datensätze bei =0.12, =2.3 GeV^2, =-0.18 GeV^2 liegen, sowie zwei azimuthale Winkel: der Winkel phi zwischen den Streu- und Produktionsebene (die Schnittlinie der Ebenen enthält das virtuelle Photon), und der Winkel phi_S zwischen der Streuebene und dem Polarisationsvector des Targets. Die Asymmetrie, auch Transversal-Target-Einzelspin-Azimuthalasymmetrie genannt, wird als das Verhältnis der Differenz zur Summ der Streuquerschnitte für die positive und negative Targetpolarisation definiert. Es wird durch sechs azimuthale Sinus-Modulationen charakterisiert, deren Amplituden von -1 bis 1 varieren können. Wir messen die Asymmetrie eines Datensatzes von 2093 Ereignissen mit einem Signal-Rausch-Verhältnis von 1:1. Im Durchschnitt wurden geringe oder mit Null übereinstimmende Amplitudenwerte gefunden, abgesehen von der Amplitude von der sin(phi_S) Modulation, allerdings innerhalb der großen exprimentellen Unsicherheiten. Ein direkter und genauerer Vergleich der Daten mit der Theorie verlangt größere Statistik und verbesserte Fähigkeiten des Detektor als für die vorliegende Messung vorhanden waren., We present the analysis of data taken in the years 2002-2004 with the 27.56 GeV positron beam of the HERA storage ring at DESY and the internal transversely polarised hydrogen fixed target of the HERMES experiment. Events with a scattered positron and a produced pion are selected. Exclusive production of single pions, e p -> e'' n pi+, is ensured by requiring the missing mass in the event to be equal to the mass of the neutron, which is not detected. The cross section for this process depends on the Bjorken scaling variable, the four-momentum transfer, and the transverse four-momentum transfer, whose average values for our sample are =0.12, =2.3 GeV^2, =-0.18 GeV^2, respectively, and two azimuthal angles: the angle phi between the scattering and production planes (their common line contains the virtual photon), and the angle phi_S between the scattering plane and the target polarisation vector. The asymmetry, also called transverse-target single-spin azimuthal asymmetry, is defined as the ratio of the difference to the sum of the cross sections for positive and negative target polarisation. It is characterised by six azimuthal sine modulations, whose amplitudes can vary from -1 to 1. We measure the asymmetry from a sample of 2093 events with a signal-to-background ratio of 1:1. At average kinematics, the values of the amplitudes are found to be small or consistent with zero, except for the amplitude of the sin(phi_S) modulation, however, within their large statistical uncertainties. A direct and more precise data-to-theory comparison requires larger statistics and improved detector capabilities than available for the present measurement.

We discuss the inclusive production of jets in the central region of rapidity in the context of k_T-factorization at next-to-leading order (NLO). Calculations are performed in the Regge limit making use of the NLO BFKL results. We introduce a jet cone definition and carry out a proper phase--space separation into multi-Regge and quasi-multi-Regge kinematic regions. We discuss two situations: scattering of highly virtual photons, which requires a symmetric energy scale to separate impact factors from the gluon Green's function, and hadron-hadron collisions, where a non-symmetric scale choice is needed., Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, prepared for the 12th International Conference on Elastic and Diffractive Scattering, DESY, Hamburg, 21-25 May 2007

The hard exclusive electroproduction of $\pi^0,\eta,\eta'$ mesons by the longitudinal photons is considered. We calculate the ratios of the $\pi^0 : \eta : \eta'$ yields for the electroproduction processes off nucleons and deuterons based on the QCD factorization theorem, the low energy QCD chiral dynamics, and the QCD anomaly. Thus investigation of these ratios gives a new way to probe the physics of the spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking., Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures, RevTeX. Discussion of the factorization is expanded, discussion of the two-photon production of the pseudoscalar mesons, references and acknowledgements are added, typos are corrected. The results of the paper are unchanged