Introduction to the Transverse-Momentum-Weighted Technique in the Twist-3 Collinear Factorization Approach

Abstract

The twist-3 collinear factorization framework has drawn much attention in recent decades as a successful approach in describing the data for single spin asymmetries (SSAs). Many SSAs data have been experimentally accumulated in a variety of energies since the first measurement was done in the late 1970s and it is expected that the future experiments like Electron-Ion-Collider will provide us with more data. In order to perform a consistent and precise description of the data taken in different kinematic regimes, the scale evolution of the collinear twist-3 functions and the perturbative higher-order hard part coefficients are mandatory. In this paper, we introduce the techniques for next-to-leading order (NLO) calculation of transverse-momentum-weighted SSAs, which can be served as a useful tool to derive the QCD evolution equation for twist-3 functions and to verify the QCD collinear factorization for twist-3 observables at NLO, as well as obtain the finite NLO hard part coefficients.