Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2012. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. In title on title page, "the square root of sigma" appears as the mathematical symbol. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 109-112). / One of the primary goals of the spin physics program at the STAR experiment is to constrain the polarized gluon distribution function, [delta]g(X,Q²), by measuring the double longitudinal spin asymmetry, ALL, of various final-state channels. Neutral pions provide a potentially powerful final state because they are copiously produced in p+p collisions and have few backgrounds. In 2009, STAR took 14 pb-¹ of integrated luminosity of 200 GeV p+p collisions, with average beam longitudinal polarization of 59%. Neutral pions produced in these collisions can be identified using STAR's large-acceptance electromagnetic calorimeter, with help from tracking from the STAR Time Projection Chamber. This work presents a measurement of the inclusive neutral pion ALL from this data, based on a new [pi]⁰ reconstruction algorithm. A comparison to theoretical predictions and other experimental results suggests that the current best-fit value of AG, the gluon contribution to the proton spin, is too small and that [delta]G is actually comparable in magnitude to the quark contribution to the proton spin [delta][sigma]. / by William Leight. / Ph.D.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MIT/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/77085 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Leight, William (William Axel) |
| Contributors | Bernd Surrow., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Physics., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Physics. |
| Publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Source Sets | M.I.T. Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 112 p., application/pdf |
| Rights | M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission., http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 |
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