Gluon TMDs from J/$\psi$ production in longitudinally polarized deeply inelastic scattering

Abstract

We investigate the feasibility of exploring the gluon transverse-momentum-dependent distribution functions (TMDs) inside a longitudinally polarized nucleon. We utilize quarkonium production via the color-octet mechanism combined with TMD formalism in semi-inclusive deeply inelastic scattering (SIDIS) at low transverse momentum as a tool to access polarized gluon TMDs. The corresponding cross-section of the process is expressed in terms of gluon TMDs and non-relativistic QCD matrix elements. We provide the expressions for the $\sin2\phi$ azimuthal asymmetries of $J/\psi$ production in SIDIS with a unpolarized beam colliding on longitudinally polarized nucleon. The asymmetry is contributed by the time-reversal-odd gluon TMD $h_{1L}^{\perp \,g}(x,\boldsymbol{p}_T^2)$. The maximum possible asymmetry deduced from the positivity bound is sizable and could be measured. We also estimate the double longitudinal spin asymmetry $A_{LL}$ of $J/\psi$ production using a spectator model result for $g_{1L}^g(x,\boldsymbol{p}_T^2)$.