Jeff Wood, Indiana University / Indiana University Cyclotron FacilityTitle: Simulation Studies of Jets and Leading Particles in Direct Photon Production at STAR and PHENIXAuthors: J. Wood, L. Bland (Indiana University)Abstract: In the past ten years, deep inelastic scattering experiments have taught us that only a small fraction of the proton's total spin is carried by the quarks which compose it. Where the remainder of the proton's spin resides is subject to debate. One idea proposes that a significant portion is carried by gluons, which propagate the strong interactions between the quarks. A proposed method of determining the spin contributions of gluons is to measure the spin dependence of photon procuction in high energy polarized proton collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Both the Solenoid Tracker at RHIC (STAR) and the PHENIX detectors will be used for measurements of direct photon production. Simulation studies are necessary to determine the ability to extract the kinematic properties of the partons which are scattered during direct photon production. Reconstruction of partonic kinematics is an essential step for relating measureable quantities to the polarized gluon structure function. In order to assess this ability, an existing code which simulates polarized proton collisions had to be modified. STAR's finite detector resolution was incorporated into the code. Also, the use of "leading particles" rather than "jets" to establish the scattered parton kinematics was analyzed. |