PROCEEDINGS OF RIKEN BNL RESEARCH CENTER WORKSHOP ENTITLED ''SINGLE SPIN ASYMMETRIES'' (VOLUME 75)

Single-transverse spin asymmetries (SSA) in strong interactions have a long history, starting from the 1970s and 1980s when surprisingly large single-transverse spin asymmetries were observed in p+p → πX and pp → Λ + X, where really none were expected. They have again attracted much interest in recent years from both experimental and theoretical sides. In particular, first measurements by the STAR, PHENIX, and BRAHMS collaborations at RHIC have now become available which again reveal large single transverse spin asymmetries for hadron production in polarized proton proton scattering. This extends the SSA observations from the fixed target energy range to the collider regime. Meanwhile, experimental studies in Deep Inelastic Scattering by the HERMES collaboration at DESY, SMC at CERN, and CLAS at JLab also show a remarkably large SSA in semi-inclusive hadron production, γ*p → πX, when the proton is transversely polarized. On the theoretical side, there are several approaches to understanding SSA within Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). For example, to explain the large SSAs for hadron production in hadron collisions, a mechanism that takes into account the contribution from quark-gluon-quark correlations (twist-3) in the nucleon was proposed. On the other hand, possible origins of SSA in DIS and hadronic scattering were also found in leading-twist transverse momentum dependent parton distributions. Current theoretical efforts aim at a better conceptual understanding of these two types of mechanisms, and of their connections. We were very happy at this timely date to bring together the theorists and experimentalists of this field to review and discuss the current theoretical status and the latest experimental results. The whole workshop contained 25 formal talks, both experiment (15) and theory (10), and a few informal talks and many fruitful discussions. The topics covered all the relevant SSA observables, including in Deep Inelastic Scattering, the Drell-Yan process, and in inclusive hadron production and dijet correlations at hadron colliders. There were not only discussions on possible interpretations of the existing SSA data, but also on the future observables for the ongoing experiments as well as for planned experiments (such as RHIC II and eRHIC). On the theory side, the talks ranged from overviews and descriptions of the fundamental aspects of SSAs, to presentations of detailed phenomenological studies. All of the talks attracted much interest and initiated active discussions. Directions for future measurements were pointed out, in particular for studies at RHIC. Also, significant theoretical advances were made that may tie together some of the currently proposed mechanisms for single-spin asymmetries. This was a very successful workshop. It stimulated many discussions and new collaborations