6533b839fe1ef96bd12a63d3

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Mo̸ller polarimetry with polarized atomic hydrogen at MESA

subject

description

A new generation of parity violation (PV) electron scattering experiments are planned to be carried out at the Institut fur Kernphysik in Mainz. These experiments will be performed at low energies of 100-200 MeV using the new accelerator MESA (Mainz Energy recovering Superconducting Accelerator). One of the main challenges of such experiments is to achieve an accuracy in beam polarization measurements that must be below 0.5%. This very high accuracy can be reached using polarized atomic hydrogen gas, stored in an ultra-cold magnetic trap, as the target for electron beam polarimetry based on Mo/ller scattering. Electron spin-polarized atomic hydrogen can be stored at high densities of 1016 cm−2, over relatively long time periods, in a high magnetic field (8T) and at low temperatures (0.3K). The gradient force splits the ground state of the hydrogen into four states with different energies. Atoms in the low energy states are trapped in the strong magnetic field region whereas the high energy states are repelled and pumped away. The physics of ultra-cold atomic hydrogen in magnetic traps and the status of the Mainz Hydro-Mo/ller project will be presented.