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We are
currently working on a series of Compton scattering experiments to
extract the proton spin
polarizabilities.
These quantities are fundamental structure constants like the charge
and mass, and are similar to the more common dipole polarizabilities,
which measure the response of a system to external electric and
magnetic fields. However, there is unfortunately no classical
analog for the spin polarizabilities.
We are using the relativistic electron beam of MAMI and the tagging
system to produce both polarized and unpolarized photon beams, which
are incident on targets of both polarized and unpolarized
protons. The Crystal Ball and TAPS detectors, arranged in a
nearly 4π set-up detect the scattered photons and
recoil protons in the final state. After analyzing the data
and separating out the background processes, and with the help of
theoretical models of the nucleon, we hope to obtain these spin
polarizabilities, which can then be compared to theoretical
predictions in order to test the validity of these models.
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