Polarization Parameter in Elastic Proton-Proton Scattering from 0.75 to 2.84 GeV

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Abstract
The polarization parameter in elastic proton-proton scattering has been measured at 0.75, 1.03, 1.32, 1.63, 2.24, and 2.84 GeV by employing a double-scattering technique. An external proton beam from the Brookhaven Cosmotron was focused on a 3 in.-long liquid-hydrogen target and the elastic recoil and scattered protons were detected in coincidence by scintillation counters. The polarization of the recoil beam was determined from the azimuthal asymmetry exhibited in its scattering from a carbon target. This asymmetry was measured by a pair of scintillation-counter telescopes which symmetrically viewed the carbon target. The analyzing power of this system was previously determined in an independent calibration experiment employing a 40%-polarized proton beam at the Carnegie Institute of Technology synchrocyclotron. False asymmetries were cancelled to a high order by periodically rotating the analyzer 180° about the recoil beam line. Spark chambers were utilized to obtain the spatial distribution of the beam as it entered the analyzer; this information allowed an accurate determination of the corrections necessary to compensate for any misalignment of the axis of the analyzer relative to the incident-beam centroid. Values of the polarization parameter as a function of the center-of-mass scattering angle are given for each incident beam energy. The predictions of the Regge theory for polarization in elastic proton-proton scattering and recently published phase-shift solutions are compared with the experimental results. Surprisingly good agreement with the Regge predictions is found despite the low energies involved.