Azimuthal asymmetries of back-to-back π ± - ( π 0 , η , π ± ) pairs in e + e - annihilation
This work reports the first observation of azimuthal asymmetries around the thrust axis in e + e – annihilation of pairs of back-to-back charged pions in one hemisphere, and π 0 and η mesons in the opposite hemisphere. These results are complemented by a new analysis of pairs of back-to-back charged pions. The π 0 and η asymmetries rise with the relative momentum z of the detected hadrons as well as with the transverse momentum with respect to the thrust axis. These asymmetries are sensitive to the Collins fragmentation function $H$ $^{1}_{⊥}$ and provide complementary information to previous measurements with charged pions and kaons in the final state. In particular, the η final states will provide additional information on the flavor structure of $H$ $^{1}_{⊥}$. This is the first measurement of the explicit transverse-momentum dependence of the Collins fragmentation function from Belle data. It uses a dataset of 980.4 fb –1 collected by the Belle experiment at or near a center- of-mass energy of 10.58 GeV.