Cross section and double helicity asymmetry for eta mesons and their comparison to neutral pion production in p+p collisions at sqrt(s)=200 GeV
Abstract
Measurements of double-helicity asymmetries for inclusive hadron production in polarized p+p collisions are sensitive to helicity--dependent parton distribution functions, in particular to the gluon helicity distribution, Delta(g). This study focuses on the extraction of the double-helicity asymmetry in eta production: polarized p+p --> eta + X, the eta cross section, and the eta/pi0 cross section ratio. The cross section and ratio measurements provide essential input for the extraction of fragmentation functions that are needed to access the helicity-dependent parton distribution functions.
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