Spin dependence of deep inelastic diffraction

Using a perturbative model for diffractive interactions, we derive an expression for the polarized diffractive structure function in the high energy limit. This structure function is given by the interference of diffractive amplitudes with polarized and unpolarized exchanges. For the polarized exchange we consider both two-gluon and quark-antiquark amplitudes. The polarized diffractive amplitude receives sizable contributions from non-strongly ordered regions in phase space, resulting in a double logarithmic enhancement at small x. The resummation of these double logarithmic terms is outlined. We also discuss the transition from our perturbative expression to the nonperturbative region. A first numerical estimate indicates that the perturbative contribution to the spin asymmetry is substantially larger than the nonperturbative one. Received: 7 July 1999 / Published online: 14 October 1999