Extracting the Kaon Collins function from $e^+e^-$ hadron pair production data

Abstract

The latest data released by the BaBar Collaboration on azimuthal correlations measured for pion-kaon and kaon-kaon pairs produced in $e^+e^-$ annihilations allow, for the first time, a direct extraction of the kaon Collins functions. These functions are then used to compute the kaon Collins asymmetries in Semi Inclusive Deep Inelastic Scattering processes, which result in good agreement with the measurements performed by the HERMES and COMPASS Collaborations.