Energy Independence of the Collins Asymmetry in 𝑝 ↑ 𝑝 Collisions
The STAR experiment reports new, high-precision measurements of the transverse single-spin asymmetries for 𝜋 ± within jets, namely the Collins asymmetries, from transversely polarized 𝑝 ↑ 𝑝 collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 510 GeV. The energy-scaled distribution of jet transverse momentum, 𝑥 T = 2𝑝 T, jet /$\sqrt{s}$, shows a remarkable consistency for Collins asymmetries of 𝜋 ± in jets between $\sqrt{s}$ = 200 GeV and 510 GeV. This indicates that the Collins asymmetries are nearly energy independent, with, at most, a very weak scale dependence in 𝑝 ↑ 𝑝 collisions. These results extend to high-momentum scales (𝑄 2 ≤ 3400 GeV 2 ) and enable unique tests of evolution and universality in the transverse-momentum-dependent formalism, thus providing important constraints for the Collins fragmentation functions.