Azimuthal asymmetries of back-to-back $π^\pm-(π^0,η,π^\pm)$ 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 $H_1^{\perp}$ 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 $H_1^{\perp}$. 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.