Transverse spin observables in hard-scattering hadronic processes within collinear factorization

Abstract

We review what is currently known about the transverse spin structure of hadrons, in particular from observables that can be analyzed within a collinear framework. These effects have been around for 40 years and represent a critical test of perturbative QCD. We look at both proton–proton and lepton–nucleon collisions for various final states. While the main focus is on transverse single-spin asymmetries, we also discuss how longitudinal-transverse double-spin asymmetries offer a complimentary, yet equally important, source of information on the quark–gluon content of hadrons. We also summarize some recent progress in solidifying the theoretical formalism behind these observables and give an outlook on future directions of research.