A leading charm meson is one with longitudinal momentum fraction, xF>0, whose light quark (or antiquark) is of the same type as one of the quarks in the beam particles. We report on the production asymmetry, A=[σ(leading-σ(nonleading)]/[σ(leading)+σ(nonleading)] as a function of xF. The data consist of 1500 fully reconstructed D± and D*± decays in Fermilab experiment E 769. We find a significant asymmetry for the production of charm quarks is not expected in perturbative quantum chromodynamics.

Using data from Fermilab fixed-target experiment E769, we have measured particle-antiparticle production asymmetries for Lambda0 hyperons in 250 GeV/c pi+-, K+- and p -- nucleon interactions. The asymmetries are measured as functions of Feynman-x (x_F) and p_t^2 over the ranges -0.12<=x_F<=0.12 and 0<=p_t^2<=3 (GeV/c)^2 (for positive beam) and -0.12<=x_F<=0.4 and 0<=p_t^2<=10 (GeV/c)^2 (for negative beam). We find substantial asymmetries, even at x_F around zero. We also observe leading-particle-type asymmetries. These latter effects are qualitatively as expected from valence-quark content of the target and variety of projectiles studied.

Using data from Fermilab fixed-target experiment E791, we have measured particle-antiparticle production asymmetries for lambda zero, cascade minus, and omega minus hyperons in pi minus-nucleon interactions at 500 GeV/c. The asymmetries are measured as functions of Feynman-x (x_F) and pt^2 over the ranges of -0.12 GE x_F LE 0.12 and 0 GE pt^2 LE 4 (GeV/c)^2. We find substantial asymmetries, even at x_F = 0. We also observe leading-particle- type asymmetries which qualitatively agree with theoretical predictions.

We present a measurement of asymmetries in the production of $\Lambda_c^+$ and $\Lambda_c^-$ baryons in 500 GeV/c $\pi^-$--nucleon interactions from the E791 experiment at Fermilab. The asymmetries were measured as functions of Feynman x ($x_F$) and transverse momentum squared ($p_T^2$) using a sample of $1819 \pm 62$ $\Lambda_c$'s observed in the decay channel $\Lambda_c \to pK^-\pi^+$. We observe more $\Lambda_c^+$ than $\Lambda_c^-$ baryons, with an asymmetry of $(12.7\pm3.4\pm1.3) %$ independent of $x_F$ and $p_T^2$ in our kinematical range $(-0.1 < x_F < 0.6$ and $0.0 < p_T^2 < 8.0 (GeV/c)^2$). This $\Lambda_c$ asymmetry measurement is the first with data in both the positive and negative $x_F$ regions.

We measure forward cross sections for production of D+, D0, Ds, D*+, and Λc in collisions of π±, K±, and p on a nuclear target. Production induced by different beam particles is found to be the same within statistics. Strange and baryonic final states are seen to contribute appreciably to the total charm cross section, which our measurements indicate is larger than but consistent with QCD predictions. The energy dependence mapped out by these and previous measurements is consistent with theory. Leading-particle asymmetry measurements for K and p-induced charm production are also presented.

This paper presents measurements of the production of Ds- mesons relative to Ds+ mesons as functions of x_F and square of p_t for a sample of 2445 Ds decays to phi pi. The Ds mesons were produced in Fermilab experiment E791 with 500 GeV/c pi- mesons incident on one platinum and four carbon foil targets. The acceptance-corrected integrated asymmetry in the x_F range -0.1 to 0.5 for Ds+- mesons is 0.032 +- 0.022 +- 0.022, consistent with no net asymmetry. The results, as functions of x_F and square of p_t, are compared to predictions and to the large production asymmetry observed for D+- mesons in the same experiment. These comparisons support the hypothesis that production asymmetries come from the fragmentation process and not from the charm quark production itself.

We present asymmetries between the production of D+ and D- mesons in Fermilab experiment E791 as a function of xF and pt**2. The data used here consist of 74,000 fully-reconstructed charmed mesons produced by a 500 GeV/c pi- beam on C and Pt foils. The measurements are compared to results of models which predict differences between the production of heavy-quark mesons that have a light quark in common with the beam (leading particles) and those that do not (non-leading particles). While the default models do not agree with our data, we can reach agreement with one of them, PYTHIA, by making a limited number of changes to parameters used.

This paper reports inclusive and differential measurements of the $t\bar{t}$ charge asymmetry $A_{\textrm{C}}$ in 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s} = 8$ TeV $pp$ collisions recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Three differential measurements are performed as a function of the invariant mass, transverse momentum and longitudinal boost of the $t\bar{t}$ system. The $t\bar{t}$ pairs are selected in the single-lepton channels ($e$ or $\mu$) with at least four jets, and a likelihood fit is used to reconstruct the $t\bar{t}$ event kinematics. A Bayesian unfolding procedure is performed to infer the asymmetry at parton level from the observed data distribution. The inclusive $t\bar{t}$ charge asymmetry is measured to be $A_{\textrm{C}} = 0.009 \pm 0.005$ (stat.$+$syst.). The inclusive and differential measurements are compatible with the values predicted by the Standard Model.

In the $pp \rightarrow t\bar{t}$ process the angular distributions of top and anti-top quarks are expected to present a subtle difference, which could be enhanced by processes not included in the Standard Model. This Letter presents a measurement of the charge asymmetry in events where the top-quark pair is produced with a large invariant mass. The analysis is performed on 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collision data at $\sqrt{s} =$ 8 TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC, using reconstruction techniques specifically designed for the decay topology of highly boosted top quarks. The charge asymmetry in a fiducial region with large invariant mass of the top-quark pair ($m_{t\bar{t}} > $ 0.75 TeV) and an absolute rapidity difference of the top and anti-top quark candidates within $-$2 $ < |y_t| - |y_{\bar{t}}| <$ 2 is measured to be 4.2 $\pm$ 3.2%, in agreement with the Standard Model prediction at next-to-leading order. A differential measurement in three $t\bar{t}$ mass bins is also presented.

A double-scattering experiment of antiprotons on carbon has been carried out at the Low-Energy Antiproton Ring (LEAR) at CERN, to measure the polarization parameter A p C in antiproton-carbon elastic scattering at small angles. The polarization parameter has been inferred from the azimuthal distribution of the antiprotons after the second scattering. Data have also been collected with a liquid-hydrogen target as the second scatterer, thus allowing the sign of A p C to be determined. The experiment has been performed at two momenta of the extracted antiproton beam, 800 and 1100 MeV/c. A small positive value of the polarization has been observed, compatible with energy independence and a linear increase with the momentum transfer q . Parametrizing A p C as a c q , we get a c = +0.72 0.10 +0.09 ( GeV / c ) −1 . This result is compared with potential model predictions for N̄N amplitudes through a Glauber theory calculation.

We report the observation of transverse polarization-dependent azimuthal correlations in charged pion pair production with the STAR experiment in $p^\uparrow+p$ collisions at RHIC. These correlations directly probe quark transversity distributions. We measure signals in excess of five standard deviations at high transverse momenta, at high pseudorapidities eta>0.5, and for pair masses around the mass of the rho-meson. This is the first direct transversity measurement in p+p collisions. Comparing the results to data from lepton-nucleon scattering will test the universality of these spin-dependent quantities.

We present a measurement of the azimuthal asymmetries of two charged pions in the inclusive process $e^+e^-\rightarrow \pi\pi X$ based on a data set of 62 $\rm{pb}^{-1}$ at the center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}=3.65$ GeV collected with the BESIII detector. These asymmetries can be attributed to the Collins fragmentation function. We observe a nonzero asymmetry, which increases with increasing pion momentum. As our energy scale is close to that of the existing semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering experimental data, the measured asymmetries are important inputs for the global analysis of extracting the quark transversity distribution inside the nucleon and are valuable to explore the energy evolution of the spin-dependent fragmentation function.

We present measurements from the PHENIX experiment of large parity-violating single spin asymmetries of high transverse momentum electrons and positrons from $W^\pm/Z$ decays, produced in longitudinally polarized $p$$+$$p$ collisions at center of mass energies of $\sqrt{s}$=500 and 510~GeV. These asymmetries allow direct access to the anti-quark polarized parton distribution functions due to the parity-violating nature of the $W$-boson coupling to quarks and anti-quarks. The results presented are based on data collected in 2011, 2012, and 2013 with an integrated luminosity of 240 pb$^{-1}$, which exceeds previous PHENIX published results by a factor of more than 27. These high $Q^2$ data provide an important addition to our understanding of anti-quark parton helicity distribution functions.

A measurement of $\textit{W}$ boson production in lead-lead collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=$2.76 TeV is presented. It is based on the analysis of data collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2011 corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 0.14 $\mathrm{nb}^{-1}$ and 0.15 $\mathrm{nb}^{-1}$ in the muon and electron decay channels, respectively. The differential production yields and lepton charge asymmetry are each measured as a function of the average number of participating nucleons $< N_{\mathrm{part}} >$ and absolute pseudorapidity of the charged lepton. The results are compared to predictions based on next-to-leading-order QCD calculations. These measurements are, in principle, sensitive to possible nuclear modifications to the parton distribution functions and also provide information on scaling of $\textit{W}$ boson production in multi-nucleon systems.

A search is conducted for non-resonant new phenomena in dielectron and dimuon final states, originating from either contact interactions or large extra spatial dimensions. The LHC 2012 proton-proton collision dataset recorded by the ATLAS detector is used, corresponding to 20 fb$^{-1}$ at $\sqrt{s}$ = 8 TeV. The dilepton invariant mass spectrum is a discriminating variable in both searches, with the contact interaction search additionally utilizing the dilepton forward-backward asymmetry. No significant deviations from the Standard Model expectation are observed. Lower limits are set on the $\ell\ell q q$ contact interaction scale $\Lambda$ between 15.4 TeV and 26.3 TeV, at the 95% credibility level. For large extra spatial dimensions, lower limits are set on the string scale $M_{S}$ between 3.2 TeV to 5.0 TeV.

Using the ATLAS detector, observations have been made of a centrality-dependent dijet asymmetry in the collisions of lead ions at the Large Hadron Collider. In a sample of lead-lead events with a per-nucleon center of mass energy of 2.76 TeV, selected with a minimum bias trigger, jets are reconstructed in fine-grained, longitudinally-segmented electromagnetic and hadronic calorimeters. The underlying event is measured and subtracted event-by-event, giving estimates of jet transverse energy above the ambient background. The transverse energies of dijets in opposite hemispheres is observed to become systematically more unbalanced with increasing event centrality leading to a large number of events which contain highly asymmetric dijets. This is the first observation of an enhancement of events with such large dijet asymmetries, not observed in proton-proton collisions, and which may point to an interpretation in terms of strong jet energy loss in a hot, dense medium.

We present a measurement of the forward-backward charge asymmetry in hadronic decays of the Z 0 using data collected with the OPAL detector at LEP. The forward-backward charge asymmetry was measured using a weight function method which gave the number of forward events on a statistical basis. In a data sample of 448 942 hadronic Z 0 decays, we have observed a charge asymmetry of A h = 0.040±0.004 (stat.)±0.006 (syst.)±0.002 (B 0 B 0 mix.), taking into account the effect of B 0 B 0 mixing. In the framework of the standard model, this asymmetry corresponds to an effective weak mixing angle averaged over five quark flavours of sin 2 θ W = 0.2321 ± 0.0017 ( stat. ) ± 0.0027 ( syst. ) ± 0.0009 (B 0 B 0 mix.). The result agrees with the value obtained from the Z 0 line shape and lepton pair forward-backward asymmetry.

The polarization of Λ baryons from Z decays is studied with the Aleph apparatus. Evidence of longitudinal polarization of s quarks from Z decay is observed for the first time. The measured longitudinal Λ polarization is P L Λ = −0.32 ± 0.07 for z = p p beam > 0.3 . This agrees with the prediction of −0.39 ± 0.08 from the standard model and the constituent quark model, where the error is due to uncertainties in the mechanism for Λ production. The observed Λ polarization is diluted with respect to the primary s quark polarization by Λ baryons without a primary s quark. Measurements of the Λ forward-backward asymmetry and of the correlation between back-to-back Λ Λ pairs are used to check this dilution. In addition the transverse Λ polarization is measured. An indication of transverse polarization, more than two standard deviations away from zero, is found along the normal to the plane defined by the thrust axis and the Λ direction.

From 1.4 million hadronic Z decays collected by the ALEPH detector at LEP, an enriched sample of Z → cc̄ events is extracted by requiring the presence of a high momentum D ∗± . The charm quark forward-backward charge asymmetry at the Z pole is measured to be A FB 0. c = (8.0 ± 2.4) % corresponding to an effective electroweak mixing angle of sin 2 θ W eff = 0.2302 ± 0.0054.

An improved measurement of the forward-backward asymmetry in Z →b b ̄ decays is presented, based on a sample of 4.1 million hadronic Z decays collected by ALEPH between 1991 and 1995. Data are analysed as a function of polar angle of the event axis and b purity. The event tagging efficiency and mean b -jet hemisphere charge are measured directly from data. From the measured forward-backward jet charge asymmetry, the b quark asymmetry at s =m Z is determined to be: A b FB =0.1017±0.0038(stat.)±0.0032(syst.). In the context of the Standard Model this corresponds to a value of the effective weak mixing angle of sin 2 θ W eff =0.23109±0.00096.

None

We present the measurement of the transverse single-spin asymmetry of weak boson production in transversely polarized proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 500~\text{GeV}$ by the STAR experiment at RHIC. The measured observable is sensitive to the Sivers function, one of the transverse momentum dependent parton distribution functions, which is predicted to have the opposite sign in proton-proton collisions from that observed in deep inelastic lepton-proton scattering. These data provide the first experimental investigation of the non-universality of the Sivers function, fundamental to our understanding of QCD.

We report measurements of single- and double- spin asymmetries for $W^{\pm}$ and $Z/\gamma^*$ boson production in longitudinally polarized $p+p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 510$ GeV by the STAR experiment at RHIC. The asymmetries for $W^{\pm}$ were measured as a function of the decay lepton pseudorapidity, which provides a theoretically clean probe of the proton's polarized quark distributions at the scale of the $W$ mass. The results are compared to theoretical predictions, constrained by recent polarized deep inelastic scattering measurements, and show a preference for a sizable, positive up antiquark polarization in the range $0.05<x<0.2$.

Results are presented from data recorded in 2009 by the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider for the double-longitudinal spin asymmetry, $A_{LL}$, for $\pi^0$ and $\eta$ production in $\sqrt{s} = 200$ GeV polarized $p$$+$$p$ collisions. Comparison of the $\pi^0$ results with different theory expectations based on fits of other published data showed a preference for small positive values of gluon polarization, $\Delta G$, in the proton in the probed Bjorken $x$ range. The effect of adding the new 2009 \pz data to a recent global analysis of polarized scattering data is also shown, resulting in a best fit value $\Delta G^{[0.05,0.2]}_{\mbox{DSSV}} = 0.06^{+0.11}_{-0.15}$ in the range $0.05<x<0.2$, with the uncertainty at $\Delta \chi^2 = 9$ when considering only statistical experimental uncertainties. Shifting the PHENIX data points by their systematic uncertainty leads to a variation of the best-fit value of $\Delta G^{[0.05,0.2]}_{\mbox{DSSV}}$ between $0.02$ and $0.12$, demonstrating the need for full treatment of the experimental systematic uncertainties in future global analyses.

The production cross sections of the inclusive Drell-Yan processes W to l nu and Z/gamma to ll (l=e,mu) are measured in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector. The cross sections are reported integrated over a fiducial kinematic range, extrapolated to the full range and also evaluated differentially as a function of the W decay lepton pseudorapidity and the Z boson rapidity, respectively. Based on an integrated luminosity of about 35 pb^-1 collected in 2010, the precision of these measurements reaches a few per cent. The integrated and the differential W+- and Z/gamma cross sections in the e and mu channels are combined, and compared with perturbative QCD calculations, based on a number of different parton distribution sets available at NNLO.

The charge asymmetry has been measured using $19,039W$ decays recorded by the CDF detector during the 1992-93 run of the Tevatron Collider. The asymmetry is sensitive to the ratio of $d$ and $u$ quark distributions to $x<0.01$ at $Q~2 \approx M_W~2$, where nonperturbative effects are minimal. It is found that of the two current sets of parton distributions, those of Martin, Roberts and Stirling (MRS) are favored over the sets most recently produced by the CTEQ collaboration. The $W$ asymmetry data provide a stronger constraints on $d/u$ ratio than the recent measurements of $F_2~{\mu n}/F_2~{\mu p}$ which are limited by uncertainties originating from deutron corrections.

We measured the spin asymmetry in the scattering of 100 GeV longitudinally-polarized muons on transversely polarized protons. The asymmetry was found to be compatible with zero in the kinematic range $0.006<x<0.6$, $1<Q~2<30\,\mbox{GeV}~2$. {}From this result we derive the upper limits for the virtual photon--proton asymmetry $A_2$, and for the spin structure function $g_2$. For $x<0.15$, $A_2$ is significantly smaller than its positivity limit $\sqrt{R}$.

Experiment WA82 studied charm production by a π − beam of 340 GeV/ c at the CERN Ω′ spectrometer, using a silicon microstrip vertex detector and an impact parameter trigger. Results on the x F distributions of D + and D − mesons are presented and discussed. A clear excess of D − over D + , increasing at high x F , is observed.

We report a new high-precision measurement of the mid-rapidity inclusive jet longitudinal double-spin asymmetry, $A_{LL}$, in polarized $pp$ collisions at center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}=200$ GeV. The STAR data place stringent constraints on polarized parton distribution functions extracted at next-to-leading order from global analyses of inclusive deep inelastic scattering (DIS), semi-inclusive DIS, and RHIC $pp$ data. The measured asymmetries provide evidence for positive gluon polarization in the Bjorken-$x$ region $x>0.05$.

We present the final results of the spin asymmetries A1 and the spin structure functions g1 of the proton and the deuteron in the kinematic range 0.0008<x<0.7 and 0.2<Q2<100GeV2. For the determination of A1, in addition to the usual method which employs inclusive scattering events and includes a large radiative background at low x, we use a new method which minimizes the radiative background by selecting events with at least one hadron as well as a muon in the final state. We find that this hadron method gives smaller errors for x<0.02, so it is combined with the usual method to provide the optimal set of results.

We present measurements of $\pi^-$ and $\pi^+$ elliptic flow, $v_2$, at midrapidity in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{\rm NN}}} =$ 200, 62.4, 39, 27, 19.6, 11.5 and 7.7 GeV, as a function of event-by-event charge asymmetry, $A_{ch}$, based on data from the STAR experiment at RHIC. We find that $\pi^-$ ($\pi^+$) elliptic flow linearly increases (decreases) with charge asymmetry for most centrality bins at $\sqrt{s_{_{\rm NN}}} = \text{27 GeV}$ and higher. At $\sqrt{s_{_{\rm NN}}} = \text{200 GeV}$, the slope of the difference of $v_2$ between $\pi^-$ and $\pi^+$ as a function of $A_{ch}$ exhibits a centrality dependence, which is qualitatively similar to calculations that incorporate a chiral magnetic wave effect. Similar centrality dependence is also observed at lower energies.

Production of events with hadronic and leptonic final states has been measured in e^+e^- collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 130-172 GeV, using the OPAL detector at LEP. Cross-sections and leptonic forward-backward asymmetries are presented, both including and excluding the dominant production of radiative Z \gamma events, and compared to Standard Model expectations. The ratio R_b of the cross-section for bb(bar) production to the hadronic cross-section has been measured. In a model-independent fit to the Z lineshape, the data have been used to obtain an improved precision on the measurement of \gamma-Z interference. The energy dependence of \alpha_em has been investigated. The measurements have also been used to obtain limits on extensions of the Standard Model described by effective four-fermion contact interactions, to search for t-channel contributions from new massive particles and to place limits on chargino pair production with subsequent decay of the chargino into a light gluino and a quark pair.

Cross-sections and angular distributions for hadronic and lepton pair final states in e+e- collisions at a centre-of-mass energy near 189 GeV, measured with the OPAL detector at LEP, are presented and compared with the predictions of the Standard Model. The results are used to measure the energy dependence of the electromagnetic coupling constant alpha_em, and to place limits on new physics as described by four-fermion contact interactions or by the exchange of a new heavy particle such as a sneutrino in supersymmetric theories with R-parity violation. A search for the indirect effects of the gravitational interaction in extra dimensions on the mu+mu- and tau+tau- final states is also presented.

Cross-sections for hadronic, b-bbar and lepton pair final states in e+e- collisions at sqrt(s) = 183 GeV, measured with the OPAL detector at LEP, are presented and compared with the predictions of the Standard Model. Forward-backward asymmetries for the leptonic final states have also been measured. Cross-sections and asymmetries are also presented for data recorded in 1997 at sqrt(s) = 130 and 136 GeV. The results are used to measure the energy dependence of the electromagnetic coupling constant alpha_em, and to place limits on new physics as described by four-fermion contact interactions or by the exchange of a new heavy particle such as a leptoquark, or of a squark or sneutrino in supersymmetric theories with R-parity violation.

We present a measurement of the cross section and transverse single-spin asymmetry ($A_N$) for $\eta$ mesons at large pseudorapidity from $\sqrt{s}=200$~GeV $p^{\uparrow}+p$ collisions. The measured cross section for $0.5<p_T<5.0$~GeV/$c$ and $3.0<|\eta|<3.8$ is well described by a next-to-leading-order perturbative-quantum-chromodynamics calculation. The asymmetries $A_N$ have been measured as a function of Feynman-$x$ ($x_F$) from $0.2<|x_{F}|<0.7$, as well as transverse momentum ($p_T$) from $1.0<p_T<4.5$~GeV/$c$. The asymmetry averaged over positive $x_F$ is $\langle{A_{N}}\rangle=0.061{\pm}0.014$. The results are consistent with prior transverse single-spin measurements of forward $\eta$ and $\pi^{0}$ mesons at various energies in overlapping $x_F$ ranges. Comparison of different particle species can help to determine the origin of the large observed asymmetries in $p^{\uparrow}+p$ collisions.

We report on a study of inclusive production ofD*± mesons ine+e− annihilation at c.m. energies between 28 and 46.8 GeV using the TASSO detector at the PETRA storage ring. A hardD*± energy spectrum is measured with a maximum nearED*±≃0.6Ebeam. The measured cross section ratio\((\sigma _{D^{* + } }+ \sigma _{D^{* - } } )/\sigma _{\mu \mu }= 1.28 \pm 0.09 \pm 0.18\) indicates thatD* production accounts for a large fraction of the observed charm production. Two complementary methods have been used to determine the forward-backward asymmetry of charm pair production due to electroweak interference. Combining both measurements the product of the axial vector couplings of the electron and the charm quark to the weak neutral current was determined to begAegAc=−(0.276±0.073), in agreement with the standard model prediction of −0.25. Using a sample of reconstructedD*± mesons, the relative strength of the strong interaction coupling of thec quark compared to that of an average of all flavours is measured as αs(c)/αs(all)=0.91±0.38±0.15, consistent with the coupling constant being flavour independent. An update of ourD0 lifetime measurement is presented, based on a considerable increase in statistics, the final result being\(\tau _{D^0= } (4.8 \pm _{0.9 - 0.7}^{1.0 + 0.5} )10^{ - 13} s\).

We report the first measurement of the longitudinal double-spin asymmetry $A_{LL}$ for mid-rapidity di-jet production in polarized $pp$ collisions at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = 200$ GeV. The di-jet cross section was measured and is shown to be consistent with next-to-leading order (NLO) perturbative QCD predictions. $A_{LL}$ results are presented for two distinct topologies, defined by the jet pseudorapidities, and are compared to predictions from several recent NLO global analyses. The measured asymmetries, the first such correlation measurements, support those analyses that find positive gluon polarization at the level of roughly 0.2 over the region of Bjorken-$x > 0.05$.

The dissociation of virtual photons, $\gamma^{\star} p \to X p$, in events with a large rapidity gap between $X$ and the outgoing proton, as well as in events in which the leading proton was directly measured, has been studied with the ZEUS detector at HERA. The data cover photon virtualities $Q^2>2$ GeV$^2$ and $\gamma^{\star} p$ centre-of-mass energies $40&lt;W&lt;240$ GeV, with $M_X>2$ GeV, where $M_X$ is the mass of the hadronic final state, $X$. Leading protons were detected in the ZEUS leading proton spectrometer. The cross section is presented as a function of $t$, the squared four-momentum transfer at the proton vertex and $\Phi$, the azimuthal angle between the positron scattering plane and the proton scattering plane. It is also shown as a function of $Q^2$ and $\xpom$, the fraction of the proton's momentum carried by the diffractive exchange, as well as $\beta$, the Bjorken variable defined with respect to the diffractive exchange.

We present the midrapidity charged pion invariant cross sections and the ratio of $\pi^-$-to-$\pi^+$ production ($5<p_T<13$ GeV/$c$), together with the double-helicity asymmetries ($5<p_T<12$ GeV/$c$) in polarized $p$$+$$p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 200$ GeV. The cross section measurements are consistent with perturbative calculations in quantum chromodynamics within large uncertainties in the calculation due to the choice of factorization, renormalization, and fragmentation scales. However, the theoretical calculation of the ratio of $\pi^-$-to-$\pi^+$ production when considering these scale uncertainties overestimates the measured value, suggesting further investigation of the uncertainties on the charge-separated pion fragmentation functions is needed. Due to cancellations of uncertainties in the charge ratio, direct inclusion of these ratio data in future parameterizations should improve constraints on the flavor dependence of quark fragmentation functions to pions. By measuring charge-separated pion asymmetries, one can gain sensitivity to the sign of $\Delta G$ through the opposite sign of the up and down quark helicity distributions in conjunction with preferential fragmentation of positive pions from up quarks and negative pions from down quarks. The double-helicity asymmetries presented are sensitive to the gluon helicity distribution over an $x$ range of $\sim$0.03--0.16.

The production of the neutral strange hadrons $K^{0}_{S}$, $\Lambda$ and $\bar{\Lambda}$ has been measured in $ep$ collisions at HERA using the ZEUS detector. Cross sections, baryon-to-meson ratios, relative yields of strange and charged light hadrons, $\Lambda$ ($\bar{\Lambda}$) asymmetry and polarization have been measured in three kinematic regions: $Q^2 > 25 \gev^2$: $5 < Q^2 < 25 \gev^2$: and in photoproduction ($Q^2 \simeq 0$). In photoproduction the presence of two hadronic jets, each with at least $5 \gev$ transverse energy, was required. The measurements agree in general with Monte Carlo models and are consistent with measurements made at $e^+ e^-$ colliders, except for an enhancement of baryon relative to meson production in photoproduction.

Measurements of neutral current cross sections for deep inelastic scattering in e+p collisions at HERA with a longitudinally polarised positron beam are presented. The single-differential cross-sections d(sigma)/dQ2, d(sigma)/dx and d(sigma)/dy and the reduced cross-section were measured in the kinematic region Q2 > 185 GeV2 and y < 0.9, where Q2 is the four-momentum transfer squared, x the Bjorken scaling variable, and y the inelasticity of the interaction. The measurements were performed separately for positively and negatively polarised positron beams. The measurements are based on an integrated luminosity of 135.5 pb-1 collected with the ZEUS detector in 2006 and 2007 at a centre-of-mass energy of 318 GeV. The structure functions F3 and F3(gamma)Z were determined by combining the e+p results presented in this paper with previously published e-p neutral current results. The asymmetry parameter A+ is used to demonstrate the parity violation predicted in electroweak interactions. The measurements are well described by the predictions of the Standard Model.