Prospects for Spin Physics at RHIC

Abstract

▪ Abstract  Colliding beams of 70% polarized protons at up to [Formula: see text] GeV, with high luminosity, L = 2 × 1032 cm−2 sec−1, will represent a new and unique laboratory for studying the proton. RHIC-Spin will be the first polarized-proton collider and will be capable of copious production of jets, directly produced photons, and W and Z bosons. Features will include direct and precise measurements of the polarization of the gluons and of [Formula: see text], u, and d quarks in a polarized proton. Parity violation searches for physics beyond the standard model will be competitive with unpolarized searches at the Fermilab Tevatron. Transverse spin will explore transversity for the first time, as well as quark-gluon correlations in the proton. Spin dependence of the total cross section and in the Coulomb nuclear interference region will be measured at collider energies for the first time. These qualitatively new measurements can be expected to deepen our understanding of the structure of matter and of the strong interaction.