Flavor Asymmetries in the Proton and Semi-Inclusive Processes

Abstract

Semi-inclusive electron scattering provides a powerful tool with which to study the spin and flavor distributions in the proton. Greater kinematic coverage at the proposed Electron-Polarized Ion Collider facility will enable the valence d/u ratio to be determined at large x through pion production. At small x, pion production can be used to extract the d-bar/u-bar ratio, complementing existing semi-inclusive measurements by HERMES, and Drell-Yan data from Fermilab. Asymmetries in heavier quark flavors can also be probed by tagging strange and charm hadrons in the final state.