First Measurements of Spin-Dependent Double-Differential Cross Sections and the GDH Integrand from \vec{^3He}(\vecγ,n)pp at Incident Photon Energies of 12.8 and 14.7 MeV

Abstract

The first measurement of the three-body photodisintegration of longitudinally-polarized ^3He with a circularly-polarized γ-ray beam was carried out at the High Intensity γ-ray Source (HIγS) facility located at Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory (TUNL). The spin-dependent double-differential cross sections and the contributions from the three-body photodisintegration to the ^3He GDH integrand are presented and compared with state-of-the-art three-body calculations at the incident photon energies of 12.8 and 14.7 MeV. The data reveal the importance of including the Coulomb interaction between protons in three-body calculations.

5 pages, 3 figures, accepted in Physical Review Letters