Single spin asymmetries from a gluonic background in the Drell-Yan process

We discuss the effects of so-called gluonic poles in twist-three hadronic matrix elements, as first considered by Qiu and Sterman, in the Drell-Yan process. These effects cannot be distinguished from those of time-reversal odd distribution functions, although time-reversal invariance is not broken by the presence of gluonic poles. Both gluonic poles and time-reversal odd distribution functions can lead to the same single spin asymmetries. We explicitly show the connection between gluonic poles and large distance gluon fields, identify the possible single spin asymmetries in the Drell-Yan process and discuss the role of the intrinsic transverse momentum of the partons.