Twist-3 effects in fully inclusive jet production from $$e^+e^-$$ annihilation

Abstract Electron–positron annihilation is an ideal place to study the hadronization process which is described by fragmentation functions. In contrast to conventional approaches based on single-inclusive or semi-inclusive annihilation, the use of fully inclusive jets to study fragmentation functions is more advantageous. This approach provides novel insight into the underlying hadronization mechanisms. For example, the mass of the jet, which breaks chiral symmetry, can be effectively used to probe twist-3 chiral-odd effects. In this paper, we present a systematic theoretical framework for calculating the differential cross-section up to twist-3 for the unpolarized annihilation process. Calculations take into account both the electromagnetic interaction and weak interaction. We find that leading-twist fragmentation functions are convoluted into the twist-3 effects. This probably provides a new perspective for studying fragmentation functions. To this end, we introduce two twist-3 azimuthal asymmetries and give the corresponding numerical estimates. We notice that the twist-3 effects are not significantly suppressed in high-energy regions due to the presence of the weak interaction. In other words, it is feasible to measure twist-3 effects at future high-energy electron–positron colliders to study hadronization mechanisms.