Polarized Protons as Nuclear Probes
Spin-dependence of nuclear reactions offers new approach to study of nuclei and nucleon-nucleus processes
Louis Rosen 1
1 Medium Energy Physics Division at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, University of California, Los Alamos, New Mexico
Experiments based on the use of polarized protons led to (i) delineation of the spin-orbit part of the optical-model potential and (ii) an improved unified description of the nucleon-nucleus interaction within the framework of the optical model. Data obtained by means of a six-parameter potential are correlated for essentially all complex nuclei and over an energy region ranging from several hundred thousand to several tens of millions of electron volts for the following observables: polarization produced by elastic scattering, differential cross sections for elastic scattering, and reaction and total cross sections. None of the parameters varies with nuclear species, and only one varies with energy.
