The PHENIX experiment at RHIC has extended its scope to cover spin physics using polarized proton beams. The major goals of the spin physics at RHIC are elucidation of the spin structure of the nucleon and precision tests of the symmetries. Sensitivities of the spin physics measurements with the PHENIX detector system are reviewed.

This study deals with the theory and phenomenology of transverse spin effects in high-energy hadronic physics. Contrary to common past belief, it is now rather clear that these effects are far from irrelevant. A decade or so of intense theoretical work has shed much light on the subject and brought to the surface an entire class of new phenomena, which now await thorough experimental investigation. Over the next few years a number of experiments worldwide (at DESY, CERN and Brookhaven) will run with transversely polarised particles, providing data that will enrich our knowledge of the transverse spin structure of hadrons. The principle aim of this work is to assess the state of the art as it stands in 2002. After a few introductory remarks (Chapter 1), in the first part (Chapters 2-4) attention is directed to polarised deep inelastic scattering (DIS), particularly DIS on transversely polarised targets, which probes the transverse spin structure function g2. This structure function is examined within the framework of the quark-parton model and its improvement via perturbative QCD. The existing data are reviewed and commented on (for completeness and comparison, a brief presentation of longitudinally polarised DIS and of the helicity structure of the proton is provided). The second part of the book (Chapters 5-8) focuses on the transverse polarisation of quarks, the so-called "transversity". The partonic content and the QCD evolution of the transversity distributions are presented in detail. The phenomenology of transversity is then studied in the context of Drell-Yan processes and of semi-inclusive lepto- and hadroproduction. The interpretation of data on single-spin asymmetries is discussed and, finally, the prospects for future measurements are reviewed.

This comprehensive volume covers the most recent advances in the field of spin physics, including the latest research in high energy and nuclear physics and the study of nuclear spin structure. The comprehensive coverage also includes polarized proton and electron acceleration and storage as well as polarized ion sources and targets. Many significant new results and achievements on the different topics considered at the symposium are presented in this book for the first time.

The volume presents an up-to-date survey of spin physics at the very high energies of present and future colliders. Topics discussed include the theory of high-energy spin physics, deep-inelastic scattering, polarization experiments at colliders, the production of high-energy polarized electron and proton beams, the construction of intense polarized sources and high-energy polarimeters. It will represent a significant reference in the field and an informative text for non-specialists as well, with rather complete keynote overview reports by some physicists who have contributed most to the subject. In addition, it will document the character of frontier research symposium of the Conference, with specialized reports of leading experts in the various items of the field.

The topics covered in the conference ranged from the physics that can be done with polarized beams of particles (protons, electrons, gamma-rays, etc.) to the techniques and instrumentation necessary to achieve this. Topics included: nucleon structure measurements (from where does the spin of the proton and neutron come), the acceleration, storage and polarization of particle beams and the polarized targets and sources necessary for mounting the experiments.

Getting down to the bottom line is what this proceedings digest is all about, as any physicist will tell you: spin is the fundamental concept in physics. The applications are pretty universal due to the fact that, using spin-related phenomena, physicists are trying to reveal the fundamental principles of nature – and things don’t come much more bottom-line than that. This volume is the proceedings of the 17th International Spin Physics Symposium which is a forum to discuss spin physics and related topics.

This book is devoted to the theory and phenomenology of transverse-spin effects in high-energy hadronic physics. Contrary to common past belief, it is now rather clear that such effects are far from irrelevant. A decade or so of intense theoretical work has shed much light on the subject and brought to surface an entire class of new phenomena, which now await thorough experimental investigation. Over the next few years a number of experiments world-wide (at BNL, CERN, DESY and JLAB) will run with transversely polarised beams and targets, providing data that will enrich our knowledge of the transverse-spin structure of hadrons. It is therefore timely to assess the state of the art, and this is the principal aim of the volume.An outline of the book is as follows. After a few introductory remarks (Chapter 1), attention is directed in Chapter 2 to transversely polarised deeply-inelastic scattering (DIS), which probes the transverse spin structure function g2. This existing data are reviewed and discussed (for completeness, a brief presentation of longitudinally polarised DIS is also provided). In Chapter 3 the transverse-spin structure of the proton is illustrated in detail, with emphasis on the transversity distribution and the twist-three parton distribution contributing to g2. Model calculations of these quantities are also presented. In Chapter 4, the QCD evolution of transversity is studied at leading and next-to-leading order. Chapter 5 illustrates the g2 structure function and its related sum rules within the framework of perturbative QCD. The last three chapters are devoted to the phenomenology of transversity, in the context of Drell-Yan processes (Chapter 6), inclusive leptoproduction (Chapter 7) and inclusive hadroproduction (Chapter 8). The interpretation of some recent single-spin asymmetry data is discussed and the prospects for future measurements are reviewed.