Addressing transversity with interference fragmentation functions

Abstract

The class of interference fragmentation functions, arising from interference among different hadron production channels, is reconsidered. Their symmetry properties with respect to chiral transformations allow building spin asymmetries where the quark transversity distribution can be factorized out at leading twist. For the case of two leading spinless hadrons inside the same current jet, the pair system is expanded in relative partial waves. The cross section is represented on the helicity basis of the target and the fragmenting quark, as well as on the relative orbital angular momentum of the pair. From the decay matrix being positive semi-definite, new bounds on the interference fragmentation functions can be derived. The expansion in partial waves allows to naturally incorporate in a unified formalism specific cases already studied in the literature, such as the fragmentation functions arising from the interference of two mesons in relative s and p waves, as well as the fragmentation of a spin-1 hadron.