Accessing Gluon Polarization Through the J/ψ Longitudinal Double Spin Asymmetry in Polarized pp Collisions at PHENIX

To date, the exact distribution of the fundamental property of intrinsic angular momentum, or spin, in the proton amongst its constituents is largely unknown. Through observation of the production of the J/ψ particle in polarized pp collisions at RHIC we are able to further constrain the contribution of the gluon polarization to the total spin polarization of the proton by expanding the global data available into a new kinematic regime.Department of EnergyPhysicsDoctoralUniversity of New Mexico. Dept. of Physics & AstronomyFields, DouglasGorelov, IgorGold, MichaelHecht, Ada