SINGLE-SPIN ASYMMETRIES IN MUON PAIR PRODUCTION

Theoretical analyses of polarized leptoproduction data suggest that the polarized gluon structure function might be large, but there has been no independent measurement of this quantity. Measurements of single-spin asymmetries in the production of muon pairs from the scattering of two protons, one of which is longitudinally polarized, can be interpreted in terms of polarized gluon, quark, and antiquark structure functions. We develop this interpretation in detail and compute the size of the asymmetries that might be expected for this process.