Next-to-leading order QCD corrections to hadron+jet production in pp collisions at RHIC

Abstract

We compute the next-to-leading order QCD corrections to the spin-independent and spin-dependent cross-sections for the production of a single-hadron accompanied by an opposite jet in hadronic collisions. This process is being studied experimentally at RHIC, providing a new tool to unveil the polarized gluon distribution Delta g. We perform a detailed analysis of the phenomenological impact of the observable at NLO accuracy and show that the preliminary data by the STAR collaboration confirms the idea of a small gluon polarization in the 0.05<x<0.3 range.

Comments: 16 pages, 11 Figures included. Minor typos corrected