Spin Filtering in Storage Rings

Abstract

The spin filtering in storage rings is based on the multiple passage of a stored beam through a polarized internal gas target. Apart from the polarization by transmission, a unique geometrical feature of interaction with the target in such a filtering process, pointed out by H.O. Meyer \cite{Meyer}, is a scattering of stored particles within the beam. A rotation of the spin in the scattering process affects the polarization buildup. We derive here a quantum-mechanical evolution equation for the spin-density matrix of the stored beam which incorporates scattering within the beam. We show how the interplay of transmission and scattering with the beam changes from polarized electrons to polarized protons in the atomic target. After discussions of the FILTEX results on the filtering of stored protons \cite{FILTEX}, we comment on the strategy of spin filtering of antiprotons for the PAX experiment at GSI FAIR \cite{PAX-TP}.