Transversely polarized Drell-Yan measurements at COMPASS
Abstract
The exploration of the transverse spin structure of the nucleon by measuring spin (in)dependent azimuthal asymmetries in semi-inclusive DIS (SIDIS) and in Drell-Yan processes is one of the main objectives of the COMPASS experiment at CERN (SPS, M2 beamline). During the first phase of the experiment (2002-2011) a series of SIDIS measurements were performed, using a longitudinally polarized muon beam impinging on transversely polarized 6LiD or NH3 targets. As a part of the COMPASS-II programme, in 2015 and 2018 the experiment performed Drell-Yan measurements with a π- beam interacting with a transversely polarized NH3. The measurement of the Sivers and other azimuthal asymmetries at the same hard scale in polarized SIDIS and Drell-Yan provides a unique possibility to test predicted in QCD (pseudo-)universal features of transverse momentum dependent parton distribution functions.