Polarization Buildup of Stored Protons and Antiprotons: Filtex Result and Implications for Pax at Fair

Abstract

The spin filtering by a multiple passage of a stored beam through a polarized internal gas target is a unique possibility of polarizing high luminosity beam of antiprotons to a high degree of polarization. Apart from the polarization by the spin-dependent transmission, a unique geometrical feature of spin filtering in storage rings is a scattering of stored particles within the ring \cite{Meyer}. A rotation of the spin in the scattering process affects the polarization buildup. We report here a fully quantum-mechanical evolution equation for the spin-density matrix of a stored beam which incorporates the scattering within the ring. We show how dramatically the interplay of the transmission and scattering within the ring changes from polarized electrons to polarized protons in the atomic target. After discussions of the FILTEX results on 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}.