Active polarized target: Measurement of proton spin polarizabilities

The static (electric and magnetic) polarizabilities of the proton are known from measurements of low-energy Compton scattering of real photons. However, no experimental data are so far available about its spin polarizabilities, which describe the response of the proton spin to a varying electromagnetic field. These fundamental structure constants can be obtained in the most model-independent way from measurements of double-polarized Compton scattering at energies below the pion threshold using a polarized photon beam and a polarized proton target. An active polarized target based on polystyrene doped with a scintillator allows recoil protons to be detected directly in the target material, background from the coherent Compton effect on heavier nuclei (¹²C etc.) to be eliminated and precise data on spin polarizabilities to be obtained.