Aspects of polarization in quasi-free electron scattering

Miscellaneous · Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1992

OSTI ID:7112420

Poulis, G I

Inclusive, parity-violating electron scattering from deuterium and coincidence, parity-conserving electron scattering from polarized nuclei in the quasi-elastic region are investigated in the framework of the Relativistic Plane-Wave Impulse Approximation which allows for a covariant treatment of the single-nucleon vertex. The spin degrees of freedom that enter both types of processes allow the measurement of asymmetry ratios which are expected to be less sensitive to nuclear physics uncertainties than the individual cross sections. This is tested in the first part of this work, in the case of the parity-violating asymmetry in d(e,e[prime])np scattering. The assumptions that lead to the PWIA are analyzed; for quasi-free kinematic and momentum transfer values large compared to the Fermi momentum, the effects of final-state-interactions, interference (exchange) terms, orthogonality and off-shellness of the struck nucleon are suppressed, whereas the relativistic effects become increasingly important. In particular, it is found that the interference terms play a very different role in the asymmetry compared to the one they play in the cross section, and they can be very important for inclusive electron scattering, especially away from the quasi-elastic region. This analysis shows that the incertainties in modeling the PV asymmetry are in the 1-2% level and therefore suggest the usage of quasi-elastic electron-deuterium scattering in combination with elastic electron scattering from the proton in studies looking for strangeness in the nucleon. In the second part of this work, the formalism for covariantly calculating the single-nucleon cross sections in the case of scattering of a polarized electron beam from polarized targets is developed, and applied to the case of typical polarizable nuclei, the focus being to investigate the role of the off-shell effects in exclusive electron scattering.

• Research Organization: Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge, MA (United States)
• OSTI ID: 7112420
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Thesis (Ph.D.)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
DEUTERON REACTIONS
P INVARIANCE
ELECTRON BEAMS
POLARIZATION
QUASI-ELASTIC SCATTERING
ELECTRONS
POLARIZED TARGETS
STRANGENESS
BEAMS
CHARGED-PARTICLE REACTIONS
DIRECT REACTIONS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
FERMIONS
INVARIANCE PRINCIPLES
LEPTON BEAMS
LEPTONS
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
PARTICLE BEAMS
PARTICLE PROPERTIES
QUASI-FREE REACTIONS
SCATTERING
TARGETS
663440* - D-
T-
& He-induced Reactions & Scattering- (1992-)