Beam normal spin asymmetry in the equivalent photon approximation

Abstract

The two-photon exchange contribution to the single spin asymmetries with the spin orientation normal to the reaction plane is discussed for elastic electron-proton scattering in Regge regime. For this, the equivalent photon approximation is adopted. In this case, hadronic part of the two-photon exchange amplitude describes real Compton scattering (RCS). The imaginary part of helicity conserving RCS amplitudes are related to total photoabsorption cross section. The contribution of the photon helicity flipping amplitudes is estimated by the two pion exchange in the $t$-channel. We observe the double logarithmic enhancement in the electron mass but find it's contribution to the asymmetry negligibly small in the forward kinematics. These results are in strong disagreement with the existing calculation.

10 pages, 5 figures; revtex